Miss Independent
by MoriMori
Summary: She claims that she doesn't need a man, but the usually independent Tenten seems to be getting more and more distracted by a certain Hyuuga lately. Rumors, kisses, ex boyfriends, and an S Rank mission don't really help her situation. NejiTenSasu ON HIATUS
1. Subtle Feelings

**Miss Independent **

**Chapter One:: Subtle Feelings **

* * *

"HOORAY! Springtime is upon us!! This is a time for love, a time for...YOUTH!!!" Lee's vibrant voice rang out through the streets of Konoha, earning him a disapproving sigh from the Hyuuga prodigy walking beside him.

Their female companion however, just gave him a weak smile. Tenten wondered silently if Lee would ever outgrow his overly optimistic and cheerful demeanor. She also wondered, with a bitter chuckle, if Neji would ever outgrow his icy, emotionless demeanor. Or would that be an oxymoron...?

Lee gasped suddenly and turned to her, "Look! It's Sakura-san!! Quick, tell me Tenten-chan, do I currently look appealing to the opposite sex?!"

Tenten's eyes widened in surprise before she answered, "Uh...sure Lee, you look very...appealing." was her absentminded answer. But then she realized that it was actually true, at least on some level. The green jumpsuit that he refused to discard, his large vest and bright orange legwarmers that hid his training weights made him look an awful lot like Gai-sensei, but he had also grown into the unmistakable features on his face, like his eyes and his infamous eyebrows. Plus he had muscles, and girls love muscles, right?

As Lee greeted the smiling Sakura when she walked over, Tenten couldn't help but be confused at her friend's sudden concern in his appearance. She could see him constantly pulling on his vest as he talked to the pink-haired medic-nin, purposely flexing his muscles and not to mention that he looked quite nervous. Lee had **never** cared much about his own looks before, so why would he suddenly change?? Unless a certain something was happening between them...

Well Tenten's face turned quite red as she considered the possibilities.

As if reading her mind, Neji turned to her and whispered quietly into her ear, "He's been acting like this for quite a while when you were on your mission. It probably has to do with her and Sasuke becoming so seperate because of his recent becoming ANBU. Lee feels as if this is his time to…strike."

Neji's hot breath on her ear and neck as he whispered to her made Tenten turn an ever brighter shade of red and sent a few chills down her spine, but she pulled it together and looked at him curiously with a smirk on her face, "What are you, 'Gossip King'?"

Leaning back from her only shrugged, "When you were gone I only had Lee to talk to most of the time, and he knows more about Sakura than I ever wanted or needed to know but he still insisted on tell me everything."

Tenten smiled with a hint of a condescending smirk, "You missed me didn't you?"

Before she could coax an answer out of him, Sakura broke off her short conversation with Lee and engulfed her in a large bear hug.

"Tenten-chan, you're finally back!!!" she squealed. Tenten had always despised squealing, but she made exceptions for Sakura and (sometimes) Ino, "How was your first mission as a Jounin? Was it exciting?! Who's team are you on again?"

Sakura's made questions made Tenten laugh a bit. "It was great." She replied, 'great' being the only word she could think of, "I could tell they gave me an easy mission to start me off, just retrieving some info on Hidden Star, but it was exciting nonetheless. And I'm on Shikamaru's team with Naruto and Chouji also."

"Tenten-chan was in many heroic battles, weren't you?" Lee looked to the weapons mistress and flashed her and eager smile.

"Well I wouldn't call them heroic per say, but I did have to bash a few heads in." Tenten said jokingly, knowing that Neji wouldn't be impressed, but she did secretly hoped that he had been worrying about her while she was away, "But Naruto...he had a bit of an infatuation..." she continued.

"You better not be telling them about Kiko!!!" The small group turned to see a flustered Naruto running toward them, screaming his lungs out.

"I think that you just told them," Tenten said when Naruto had reached them.

"Wait!!" Lee said despairingly, "Who's Kiko?!"

"I need to hear this," Sakura said, smiling and cocking her eyebrow. Even Neji looked moderately intrigued.

Naruto gave Tenten a sour look, "Fine, just tell them." He sighed.

Tenten dove right into the story, telling it with great enthusiasm, "Well Romeo over here," she said jerking her thumb at her new teammate, "insisted on becoming 'friends' with the daughter of the man we were going after."

"We were there to kill her father and steal all his records about Hoshigakure!" Naruto interrupted, explainin, "The least I could do was show her a. good time!!"

A mischievous smirk crept across Tenten's face, "You didn't have to 'show her a good time' IN THE MIDDLE OF OUR FIGHT WITH HER FATHER!!!" Tenten put her hands on her hips and mock-yelled at him. She let this information sink in to the rest of the group.

"AAAHHHHH!!! HOW IS THAT POSSIBLE???!!!" Was the reaction across the board.

Tenten was all too happy to recount the fight, "So here Shikamaru, Chouji and I are, fighting off the target, her father, and probably ten or twelve other people that are trying to protect these records, though I have NO idea why, and there Naruto was, completely oblivious and just...you know!!"

"Baby makin'." Naruto inserted with a grin (oh that was a very disturbing pun).

Neji glanced over at Tenten, both of them wearing an 'I'm-going-to-hit-Naruto-pretty-soon' look on their faces, "He's just like Jiraiya." Neji said flatly.

Tenten nodded at him before adding to her story, "If I recall Naruto, you were VERY dramatic about the whole thing. Your exact words were 'GO AHEAD, KILL ME RIGHT HERE!!! YOUR DAUGHTER WILL BE THE LAST WOMAN I EVER TOUCH!!' And then you made a big show of helping her escape so Shikamaru wouldn't attack her." Tenten and the others laughed as Naruto stuck out his bottom lip and blushed embarrassed.

"I'm sure she'll still be the last woman he ever touches," Neji added...jokingly? Maybe the great Hyuuga Neji had just graced them with his humorous side. And he was smirking like there was no tomorrow, which made even Naruto laugh a bit before he realized the snarky comment was directed at him.

"Heeeeeeeeeeey…!!" Naruto whined, pouting.

Feeling an awkward silence coming on and wanting to avoid it, Sakura decided to hit Naruto playfully in the back of his head.

"OWWWWWW!!" he screamed again, "What was that for??!!?"

"Because I can." The medic-nin grinned sweetly at him.

Naruto began complaining about the new bump on his head and Sakura gasped, "Oh!! I almost forgot!" she looked at Tenten, "So Tenten, my birthday is coming up in a couple days, and I'm having a party!" Sakura grinned mischievously, squinted her eyes and leaned to whisper the last part to the older girl "And get this; I found a bar that I can have the party at, and they'll let me and everyone else have alcohol even though I'm only 17!!"

A laugh escaped out of Tenten's mouth when Sakura said this. Everyone knew that the innocent pink-haired girl was trying out a rebellious streak, and getting drunk was at the top of her list, "That sounds great Sakura," Tenten played along, "I'll even get smashed with you. Hell, I'm sure I can find some other alcohol veterans for you." The eighteen-year-old Lee was at the top of that list. Tenten had never thought he would be much for drinking, but recent parties had proved her wrong. And damn, Lee was pretty freaky when he got even a sip of alcohol in his system.

Sakura giggled evilly, if that's even really possible, "Great!! It's the 28th, so in two days!! Down at The Kichigai Bar."

Tenten nodded and said that she would most definitely be there, and was then pulled aside by a frantic-looking Rock Lee, "Tenten-chan!! I need your help! You're a girl, correct?"

The weapons mistress could feel her right eyebrow twitching.

Lee realized what he had said and apologized fiercely, "I'm so sorry dear Tenten!! Of course I realize that our beautiful blossom is a girl—no—now she is a WOMAN!!" Tenten's eyebrows were still twitching a bit, despite Lee's apology, "What I meant to ask," Lee continued, "is if you were knowledgeable about girly stuff. Girly stuff that...Sakura would...like..." he shuffled his feet around nervously.

The eyebrow twitching stopped instantly when Lee blushed and mentioned Sakura, "You want to get her a birthday present don't you?" Tenten chirped cheerfully.

Dramatic tears of joy lined Lee's eyes as he pressed his palms together and cried out, "You understand!!! Yes!! I want to get the beautiful Sakura-san the perfect gift to show her my intense feelings for her!!!" Lee embraced Tenten in an...intense hug. Intense was a very good word to describe Lee.

Seeing Tenten and Lee talking in such animated voices reminded Neji that he hadn't said much to her really since she had gotten back from her first Jounin mission. He started walking toward her, but Sakura stepped in front of him hastily, making his pupil less eyes widen in confusion at the secretive look she was giving him.

"Neji-san, I need to tell you something serious," she said pointing a finger at the Hyuuga prodigy.

Neji was slightly taken aback, but soon regained his cool, "What?"

"Well, Neji, I need you—"

"No." he replied icily before she could continue.

Sakura stamped her foot on the ground impatiently and embarrassed, "Not like _that!!_" she whispered loudly. Neji mentally wiped his forehead in relief, "My birthday party is also a surprise congratulation party for Tenten and her recently becoming a Jounin!! And because her 18th birthday was on the 9th, but she was away on her mission so we couldn't celebrate it with her." she tried to keep her voice low so Tenten couldn't hear, but the last part came out louder than she planned.

"And what do you need me for?" Neji was much taller than Sakura, so he could see over the top of her head that Tenten and Lee were off together to the shopping part of town. _'Damn.'_

Seeing that Tenten had vacated the vicinity, Sakura now talked in her normal bubbly voice, "Well I need YOU to help ME pick out a good present for her." (haha...this is déja vu right?)

"And I know exactly what you're going to say," she continued, stopping Neji from opening his mouth, "' Don't you know her well enough to pick out a present?' or 'do it yourself, blah, blah, blah' but you know her better than anyone in the WORLD, soooooooo, I want you to help me. And you can get her a present too while we're shopping. Now come oooonnnnnnn." Sakura whined impatiently, pulling on his arm and dragging him off to the shopping part of Konoha that Neji had seen Tenten and Lee run off to.

_'How did I get myself into this…?'_ Neji thought despairingly as the abnormally strong girl dragged him with her.

* * *

Speaking of Tenten and Lee...they had quickly found a small shop that sold one thing that Sakura had always loved; jewelry. Whenever she wasn't working shifts at the hospital, or assisting Chuunin and Jounin on missions, she loved to add an accessory to her outfit.

"Tenten-chan! Look at these earrings!!" Lee was gushing over another piece of jewelry that he was considering buying for Sakura.

Tenten smiled at him and the earrings. They were small dark silver hoops that shone and glinted in the sunlight. Tenten adored them instantly, "They are very pretty. Beautiful but subtle."

"Just like my love for her!!!!" Lee had tears of joy in his eyes.

The earrings were quickly snatched away from Lee and placed on another table by a chuckling Tenten, "I don't think so Lee. Your love is more...loud and expressive."

"And..." Lee pouted playfully.

Eyes rolled, "And very youthful." Tenten smiled and Lee was very pleased with her answer, "Now let's try and find something else."

* * *

"I can't believe we found gifts for Tenten so quickly!!" Sakura's eyes were bright as she and Neji left the weapons store where they had shopped for none other than the weapons mistress herself, "I mean, when I told the others, it took them forever to find the right present! You're a miracle worker Neji!!" he rolled his eyes at the sincere smile she gave him, but he did returned a small grin nonetheless.

"Well I know how much being a successful Jounin means to her, so something to help her performance only seems fitting." He looked over at the bag that Sakura was holding that contained a rare scroll he knew that Tenten had been looking for, and then looked down at his own bag that had a close range combat short sword in it. He had had her name engraved in it. It seemed frivolous to him at first, until he realized that it would make the gift all the more personal.

_"Say, I will engrave the pretty girl's name into this short sword for only a smaaaall price!" _the shopkeeper had said persuasively.

Neji had most definitely been hesitant at first_, "I don't really think that's necessary…" _

_"Nonsense!" _the shopkeeper had gone on, "_It makes the gift much more…hmmm, **personal**. She'll love it, love it, love it." _And so Neji had caved under the man's skillful advertising.

_'I'm not even sure why I wanted this present to seem so personal,' _Neji thought to himself. He cleverly kept the feeling of nervousness he was feeling to himself as well.

"Sakura..." Neji said thoughtfully, trying to keep his mind off of Tenten, "Why did you decide to stay a Chuunin and not even take the Jounin test? I'm sure you could've become an elite ninja easily, so why not?"

A blush teased at Sakura's cheeks when she heard Neji's compliment, for it was a rare occurrence to be flattered by the infamous Hyuuga boy, "Thank you Neji-san, but I don't think I could handle the stress of being a Jounin," she answered truthfully, "I like being a Chuunin. It gives me freedom, but keeps me grounded, you know what I mean?" she glanced at Neji with a serious expression.

"Hn." Was the reply. He wasn't really sure if he understood.

"Ooohh..." Sakura's face softened when she saw the jewelry store at the end of the street, "C'mon Neji-san!! Let's go inside!!! Pleeeeassssseee Neji!!??" she started to whine and pull on his arms when she saw the apprehension in the Hyuuga boy's eyes and body language.

After a bit of grumbling and more whining, Neji and Sakura had entered the rather large jewelry store, in which Sakura now started ogling anything shiny or pink or, Neji shuddered, _both_.

"Sakura, if you're going to be shopping for yourself, I think that I'll go," he said heading toward the door casually, "because I've gotten everything I need for Tenten's present."

The pink-haired kunoichi whipped around to face Neji and clasped her hands together romantically, "Oh NEJI!! That's so thoughtful...and...romantic!! You could get Tenten _JEWELRY!!"_

Neji's eyebrows raised a bit above his deceivingly emotionless eyes, _'What exactly is she thinking...?'_

"Sakura, I don't really think that jewelry will help Tenten become a better ninja." he said the first excuse that came to his mind.

He got a wink in return, "But it will improve her love performance!!"

_'I don't get women like Sakura. Does she think that there's something going on between me and Tenten? Or is she just trying to get me riled up.'_ Thoughts swirled around in Neji's head as he followed Sakura further into the store. He would have traded his Byakugan for mind reading powers at that moment just to discover what was running through Sakura's plotting mind.

"Okay," she said stopping at a table with various earrings arranged on it, "I _think_ that Tenten has her ears pierced—"

"She does." Neji informed her quickly. He swore that he could see Sakura smirk knowingly as she watched him lean over to look at the earrings on the table, "What about these?" he said standing up straight and holding out a box with a pair of silver hoops in it. They just happened to be the same hoops that Tenten had admired earlier.

* * *

Meanwhile, Tenten's ears perked when she heard two voices coming from nearby. Lee had found a small silver ring with a bright pink jewel on it that perfectly suited Sakura and had gone to buy it at the counter; leaving Tenten to roam around the store aimlessly while Lee bartered loudly with the owner about the price. ("My good sir, this is a beautiful ring, but this price is rather…ugly." "Well whaddaya want me to do about it?" "Well I'm glad you asked because I was thinking that we could give this price a makeover." "Huh?" "Lower the price please.")

"Oh. My. Gosh. It's...they're...wow...beautiful!! They're gorgeous!!!" Tenten had walked toward the voices and had peaked through a shelf displaying gaudy, plastic rings and could now clearly hear and see a squealing Sakura bobbing up and down. she saw an outstretched hand with the small dark silver hoops in it, but she couldn't quite see the person attached to the hand. _'Oops...maybe I should've let Lee buy those earrings...' _

"Oh _NEJI!!!_"

_'Yeah Neji...wait WHAT???!!!'_ A record skipped in Tenten's head when she heard Sakura sigh and say Neji's name like that. When she shifted her weight and cocked her head at a 45 degree angle she could also clearly see that Neji was the one holding the earrings out to Sakura.

"Good," he grunted, clutching the earring box and heading toward the cashier, "I'm buying them then."

"Honestly Neji," Tenten heard Sakura say as they walked slowly out of her line of vision, "They're lovely. I never knew you could be so thoughtful!!"

Tenten looked down at the ugly blue carpet that surrounded her feet defeated, and only raised her hand in greeting to Lee, who had walked up to her and was giving her a thumbs up and thanking her for her for all her help in wooing 'the enchanting Sakura-san'.

_'Enchanting indeed.'_ Tenten thought bitterly as she and Lee exited the store.

* * *

Neji was trying to block out Sakura's incessant chattering to him while he was paying for the earrings. He remembered the exact words that had come to his mind when she saw them, '_beautiful but subtle'._ He had had the same reaction to them as Tenten had, but he didn't know that.

_'Beautiful but subtle. Just like my feelings for her.'_ He thought of a certain brunette kunoichi with soft eyes and a smile.

* * *

**Ahhhh!!! There was WAY too much Neji/Sakura stuff in there. But it ignited jealousy!! Give me a break, this is my first fanfic. Now review, pretty please? Because I'm a very sensitive person, and I'll be sad if you don't. D; **

**Mori **


	2. The Ino Problem

**Chapter Two:: The Ino Problem **

**Hey! Thanks to everyone who reviewed! I was really only aiming for four reviews, so my expectations were exceeded. ;D**

**

* * *

**Two hours. Neji and Sakura had been shopping in Konoha's largest female clothing store, 'cleverly' named _Kunoichi Kloset,_ for TWO HOURS. Tenten was keeping track of the time and couldn't stop wondering what the hell they would be doing in there that they wouldn't let her come along. 

It had been about two days since 'The Earring Incident' as Tenten referred to it in her mind. She had had many awkward dreams (more like nightmares) about Sakura and Neji getting married and having little babies with pink hair and pale lavender eyes. The weapons mistress shuddered when she thought of it.

_'Why do I care?'_ she thought, shoving her hands in her pockets and walking down the streets to get to Sakura's party early, _'Why. Do. I. CARE?! Sakura's my friend and Neji is my best friend. I should be happy that they've become friends too...or...more...I mean, I'm not losing Neji forever! Things won't change...' _

But Tenten knew that if Neji and Sakura ended up together that things would change. She just had trouble picturing Neji with anyone; she had always assumed that she would be the only girl in his life, romantic relationship or not.

"I DON"T like him." She said angrily to the ground, "And I'm NOT jealous. Not at all." Tenten knew she was lying but she also knew that the ground she was lying to wouldn't really care.

"Who're you _not_ jealous of?" a voice coming from behind her made Tenten stop in her tracks and inhale sharply.

"Temari..." Tenten exhaled as she turned to face the female sand-nin, who she had become very good friends with in the past few years, "No one, it's nothing…"

"Ok theeen..." Temari smirked a bit, preparing to meddle, "But if you're thinking about Neji and Sakura spending so much time together, don't worry about it. _If—_I said if, don't glare at me—_if_ you like him, and told him, he would dump Sakura in a second for you."

_'How does she know so much…?'_ Tenten thought a bit before answering.

"Really...?" but she was slightly intrigued, "Not that I like him as more than a friend or anything..." this was added as an afterthought.

Temari shrugged lightly, "If you want real love advice you should go to Ino, but yeah, that's just my opinion."

"Hey Tenten?" Temari asked tentatively after a minute of silence, "You know your—oopsdidIsay_your_?Thatwasatotalslipofthetougne...I meant _Sakura's_ party?" Temari chuckled nervously.

"Um...yes?"

"Well Shikamaru asked me to go with him, a 'troublesome date' as he called it." Temari looked at Tenten almost shyly.

A smile lit up Tenten's face, "Temari, that's great! But...why do you look so upset about it..."

Tenten almost knew the answer before it was said, "Ino..." was the reply.

"Are you...afraid of her?" Tenten stifled a laugh.

Temari laughed a bit too, "HELL no!! I just don't want her all over Shikamaru. That's why I need YOU to find her a boyfriend and get her out of my way."

"WHAT?! Why me?!" Tenten put her hands on her hips.

"Because you're my best friend!" _'And my only one besides my brothers...'_ Temari thought bitterly to herself.

Tenten caved, "Well you are my best girlfriend, so I'll see what I can do."

"Thanks Tenten-chan!" Temari smiled awkwardly and waved as she ran off in the opposite direction, "I have to get ready, so I'll see you at the party!!"

Tenten laughed to herself and continued walking. But when she walked past a shady, dusty alley a pair of hands reached out to cover her mouth and pull her down into the darkness...

* * *

"Sakura-san, the party is in less than an hour, I think that we should head over there," Neji was standing outside a dressing room surrounded by several shopping bags. It wasn't exactly that hard to figure out who was doing the shopping, and who was going to end up carrying the shopping bags.

"Just a second!" Sakura's voice flowed over the stall doors making Neji sigh. He was worried out Tenten and how she was reacting to him and Sakura spending so much time together in the last few days. When he had tried to talk to her yesterday she had seemed distracted and kept giving Sakura looks of...jealousy...

He had secretly liked thinking that Tenten could actually be _jealous_ of another girl because of the time that Neji was spending with them. He also inferred that it might mean that she had feelings for him. Well, other than feelings of friendship. The thought excited and intrigued him, so maybe that was why he had accepted Sakura's invitation to go shopping…something he had always loathed.

But even the steel nerves of Neji had had enough, "If you insist on taking so long, then I'm leaving." He said, closing his eyes and walking calmly out of the store with his hands in his pockets. After he had walked a small distance away from _Kunoichi Kloset_, Neji looked back with a raised brow and saw Sakura running after him.

"Well despite your stubbornness," she panted when she caught up with him, "you made a pretty good shopping partner."

"Hn...I have to go get Tenten's present from my house, so I'll see you at the bar I guess." Neji continued to walk away from her.

"Wait!" Sakura linked arms with him, "I brought my present for her with me, so I'll come with you to pick it up and then we can go to the party together!"

Neji kept his face blank and pulled his arm away from the pink-haired kunoichi, "Well I also have to get your present, and I don't want to spoil it." He said monotonously,

"Aw, Neji-san, you didn't have to do that!" she squealed and squirmed excitedly.

"Well it is _your _party." He was grateful that she hadn't called him 'Neji-kun' like most of his fangirls.

The Hyuuga prodigy almost fell over in surprise when his companion gave him a peck on the cheek, "Neji you can be so sweet when you try! I'll see you soon then!"

As he watched Sakura run off and wave at him shyly he thought of two reasons that would explain her actions towards him; either she was rebounding from the heartbreak that Sasuke put her through, or she had a thing for prodigies and was becoming attached to him. He sincerely hoped that it WASN'T the latter.

* * *

"SHIKAMARU!!! YOU SCARED THE CRAP OUT OF ME!!!! DON'T YOU **_EVER_** DO THAT AGAIN!!!" Tenten had one hand clenched into a fist and the other hand was clutching the collar of a half-conscious Shikamaru. Cowering in the corner of the alley for fear of the weapons mistress was one Akamichi Chouji.

The owner of the hands that had grabbed Tenten roughly and dragged her into the dark alley belonged to none other than Nara Shikamaru, who obviously didn't expect such a violent reaction from the brunette kunoichi, "Troublesome woman..." he muttered.

"Well what did you expect me to do?" Tenten countered, with her hands on her hips, "You could have been an assassin or an enemy ninja."

Shikamaru rubbed the side of his face that Tenten had hit. It smarted painfully, "Ouch...you're obviously too troublesome for even enemy ninjas to bother to attack."

A deep sigh was given from Tenten as she pulled a cold compress out of her back pocket and pressed it up to Shikamaru's cheek, letting her sisterly side take over, "I'm sorry..." she said with a concentrated look on her face, "but what do you guys want anyway?"

"Shikamaru needs your help." Chouji stated bluntly.

"Why is everyone asking **me** for help today?!" Tenten wailed, throwing her head back.

"Was it Temari?" Shikamaru drawled lazily.

Tenten answered in an equally lazy tone, "Yes it was. And I suppose that you'll be wanting the same thing, yeah?"

"Yes! But we have a different strategy!!" Chouji interrupted eagerly, "To keep Ino from bothering—"

"She doesn't _bother_ me," Shikamaru was now the one who interrupted; he was actually too lazy to let Chouji finish, "I just don't want her to freak out about me and Temari." He rolled his eyes and looked at Chouji, "Ok, now you can tell her your _genius_ idea."

Chouji looked unbearably excited, "If Ino goes out with ME, she won't care about what Shikamaru is doing!"

An image of Chouji and Ino..._together_ popped into Tenten's mind. And then their future children; chubby little blond kids converting calories into chakra while running to deliver flowers and panting. She was really going to have to stop imagining what peoples' kids would look like, because it was thoroughly disturbing.

"Um...sure Chouji..." Tenten forced a smile at the obliviously happy glutton and could see out of her peripheral that Shikamaru was chuckling unabashed. Poor Chouji had never gotten over his childhood crush on his former teammate. No, not Shikamaru, _Ino._ (Sorry ShikaCho fangirls.)

Shikamaru suddenly remembered that he had been recruited by Sakura and Neji to stall Tenten long enough so that she would be the last one to arrive at her surprise party. He had been very reluctant to accept this responsibility, but the threat of Sakura's chakra enhanced punch was more than enough to influence him, "Hey...why don't we get a quick drink before the party?" Shikamaru suggested the first thing that popped into his head...obviously something involving alcohol. A confused look was all he got in response.

"No? Well let's see..." Shikamaru was beginning to think that this was going to be more troublesome than he originally thought, "Y'know, Chouji can't dance. You should teach him." Wow, that was stupid. Shikamaru hit himself mentally.

Chouji opened a fresh bag of chips; a favorite pastime of his. Just because he had lost a bunch of weight since his Genin and Chuunin days didn't mean he didn't still love the delicious crunch of a fried slice of potato, "No thanks, I don't think I'll be doing any dancing tonight."

Shikamaru glared at Chouji and sighed deeply, "All of us should...go confront Ino. Right now."

"Don't worry Shikamaru, I already have a plan to get Ino a new love life." She winked at him, feeling bad that an excited Chouji probably wasn't going to be in her plan.

"Do you have your present for Sakura? We could go pick it up at your house." Chouji piped up and saved Shikamaru the trouble of coming up with something to stall the stubborn kunoichi. He earned a gracious nod.

Tenten patted her back pocket, "I've got it right here!" she chirped.

"Jeez, you've got everything in that back pocket..." Chouji observed, "No wonder your butt always looks big. Haha...just kidding...please don't punch me..." Tenten was glaring at him sourly as he cowered away from her.

_'Ugh...this is a drag. Why even bother...'_ Shikamaru gave up, "Well I've got to go pick up Temari, so I'll be leaving you two." He saluted them half heartedly and then was gone.

Now she was stuck with Chouji who was eager to talk about nothing but Ino, so Tenten decided to quickly make her escape, "I'm...I'm meeting Neji soon." She lied smoothly, "He hates when I'm late. So bye!!" Then Tenten zipped off as well.

As if on cue, she saw Neji walking down the street right after she had come out of the alley. She greeted him casually.

_'Nara may be a genius, but he's horrible at distracting...oh well, I'll have to do it myself.' _Neji thought, unimpressed but not surprised. But he had a backup plan to make sure that Tenten was the last person to arrive at the party so that the surprise wouldn't be ruined, "Tenten?" he turned to her.

"Hmm?" he had her attention.

"I left my present for Sakura back at the house," he said (mansion is more like it), "and I…promised Sakura that I would get there early, so do you think you could get if for me so I won't be late?" It was a white lie, but a good way to keep Tenten busy for now. The only thing he was worried about was her reaction to being tricked.

Tenten flinched invisibly when Neji mentioned he had a 'promise' to Sakura, but she nodded, "Ok Neji," and headed off to the Hyuuga mansion.

Now, Tenten had only ever been inside the Hyuuga complex when escorted by Neji, so she had no idea how to deal with the guard resistance she met at the door.

"I'm sorry miss," the muscular man said, rather sincerely, "but friends can only enter the main house of the Hyuuga household if a Hyuuga is present with them."

_'He's like a bouncer...'_ Tenten thought despairingly, "Neji told me to come here and pick up his present for Sakura, so I _really_ need to get in!!"

The Hyuuga Bouncer looked confused, "I'm positive that Master Neji remembered his present for Sakura. I was ordered to remind him actually."

_'Master Neji? What the...wait, WHAT?!'_ The thoughts in Tenten's mind were racing. Did Neji just want to get rid of her? But why...? _'Probably so he could have some alone time with his wonderful Sakura...'_ she thought, clenching her fists, "Well, thanks anyways." She said to the door guard and stormed off.

* * *

"Ok, is everything all set?!" Sakura was almost screaming in excitement as she fluttered around the Kichigai bar making preparations, "Neji, is she coming?"

"Hn?" Neji wasn't really paying attention, "Oh, yeah."

"Then everybody HIDE!!" she said in a hushed tone and the many attendees of the party hid under tables and behind the bar (some more reluctantly than others). Temari and Shikamaru could be heard giggling as they hid in a corner of the bar, but no one really wanted to know what they were doing.

Mere seconds after the large group had hidden and the lights extinguished, the door to the Kichigai Bar was thrown open by Tenten. The dainty ring of the bell attached to the door to announce customers was followed by Tenten exhaling sharply and crossly. There was silence for a few seconds, because everyone could tell that Tenten was in no mood for surprises.

"WHY ARE THE LIGHTS OFF?!" the brunette kunoichi shrieked out of anger.

Awkward coughing was heard before Sakura flipped the lights on, "Um...surprise...Tenten...!" everyone said awkwardly, their shaky voices overlapping.

"P-pl-please don't be m-mad, Ten-Tenten-chan...w-we just w-w-anted to cel-celebrate you be-becoming a J-Jounin..." there were more than a few people who were grateful that Hinata spoke up; she was one person that Tenten could never be mad at. But the poor girl was stuttering more than usual, scared of the furious look in the weapons mistress' eyes.

Tenten's mouth hung agape before turning into a warm smile, "That explains so much," she sighed, relieved, "I can't believe you guys did this for me!" she allowed her eyes to stray to Neji, who was leaning against the bar with his arms crossed and smiling at her, _'At least now I know why he tricked me earlier.'_ She then looked over at a nervous looking Sakura, "Happy birthday!! And thanks for including my becoming a Jounin in your party too!" she said gratefully, hugging the pink haired girl.

_'But if you and Neji start going out, I will hunt you down like Sasuke hunts down Itachi.'_ She thought viciously through a smile, _'But I'm not jealous. Not at all.'_ She added this as an afterthought.

When the awkward start to the party had been concluded, and everyone had started mingling, Tenten made a beeline for Ino, _'I might as well get this over with...'_

"Hey!" she greeted Ino cheerfully before she noticed that the blonde girl had a despairing look on her face, "Ino...what's wrong?" she asked, concerned. But Tenten knew perfectly well what was wrong.

Ino's hand trembled, causing the water in the glass she was holding to spill a bit, "Sasuke dumped me for Sakura...and now Shikamaru is ignoring me for Temari." She said quietly, sadly. There was pure heartbreak in her words.

Tenten's heart silently ached for her despairing friend. She hadn't remembered that Sasuke had broken Ino's heart as well as Sakura's later on. She tried to put on a surprised, concerned look, "Ino-chan, don't think about them. Sasuke ended up dumping Sakura too, and you know that you could do better than Shikamaru!" Tenten said the last part half heartedly; she knew that a good-looking genius from the Nara family was a major find, "You're a beautiful and amazing person Ino, and I bet you could have any guy you want!"

Small tears welled up in the blonde girl's eyes, "But all the guys that I do want...don't love me back..." she mused.

The brunette kunoichi wasn't sure how much more of Ino's sadness she could take, "Ino, how about I hook you up with any other guy you want, right now." Tenten smiled confidently.

"You would do that for me?!" Ino looked hopeful as she set her drink down on a nearby table and clutched Tenten's arm.

"Just say the name, and I'll get to it!" Tenten was glad to see Ino smiling again. Unfortunately, it was a mischievous smile.

"Neji."

* * *

**Ay-oh!!! This cliffhanger is not what it seems!! **

**I'm sorry that Neji was ooc...hehehe... I'm also sorry this chapter took me so long to write!! I had an unbelievingly frantic week. If I told you, you would review this story out of pity for me, but I don't think I'll milk it. Review anyway because you love me. **

**Mori**


	3. Drunk Personalites

**Chapter Three:: Drunk Personalities**

**I'm so, so, so, so, so, so SORRY that this chapter took forever for me to post. It took me a while to write (but there will still be TONS of typos) and then FanFiction wouldn't let me upload this document and it took me forever to figure out how to get this chapter UP. I'm an idiot. But thanks for waiting for me and my incompetence. xD **

**Yeah all my readers and reviewers are freakin' awesome. :) **

* * *

_'Don't kill. Killing your friends is bad. Don't look angry. Ino might take it the wrong way and think that **you **like Neji. That's absurd...I would never...'_ Tenten tried to calm herself down mentally, but thoughts of little blond babies with lavender eyes were prancing through her head, _'I have GOT to stop that!'_

"Tenten?" Ino had an innocent look on her face. Well this was great…Tenten couldn't really say 'HELL no, I won't fix you up with Neji!' for fear of the blonde girl crying again.

Instead she turned to Ino with a blank face and thought of an excuse, "Um...Neji is such a hard guy to get, why not go for an easier guy like Chouji?! He's really sweet, and he's gotten _pretty_ cute. Plus, he loves butterflies. What more could a girl want?" Unfortunately, the Yamanaka girl wasn't that easy to bullshit.

Ino countered with ease, "If you think he's so great, _you_ go out with him. _I want Neji._"

Those words struck Tenten like a slap across the face. She didn't even know why. She could tell by the smirk on Ino's face that she WANTED Tenten to be jealous. _'Well I'm not that easy to trick!!'_ she imagined screaming at Ino.

"Ok, I'll get right on that." was all that Tenten said before walking straight over to Neji, who was sipping sake quietly.

"Neji," she decided to get straight to the point, "What do you think of Ino."

The Hyuuga shrugged, "She is moderately good looking." Tenten wanted to slap him.

Resisting her slapping impulses, the weapons mistress continued, "But what do you think about her _personality?" _

"She's kind of annoying." Neji stated bluntly, making Tenten want to hug him, "Why do you want to know?" he continued.

"Um..." Tenten searched for an excuse, "I'm just, taking an...interest in your love life?" she slapped her forehead mentally. The excuse was pretty lame, but why not try and milk it? "So what do you think about Sakura...?" she got a mischievous look in her eyes.

Neji looked over at Sakura, who was waving cutely at him and blowing occasional kisses. He rolled his eyes and took a large sip of his drink before answering, "Overly affectionate." Was his reply.

When Tenten saw Sakura openly flirting with Neji she flinched slightly. She saw Sakura walk over to talk to Ino and she could just imagine the two of them giggling about how cute Neji looked. Neji was now the new Sasuke. Prodigy allure.

"Dead...girls...walking..." Tenten said under her breath. (I stole that line from Angelgirl18647, so that's where the credit goes! xD)

"What's that?" Neji asked. Damn him and his good hearing.

"Nothing..." she grumbled as Neji shrugged and tossed down another round of sake.

Suddenly, as if having an epiphany, Tenten remembered the present for Sakura in her back pocket. It would undoubtedly make her forget all about Neji. She uttered a quick goodbye to the Hyuuga before sprinting off to where Sakura and Ino were standing.

"Sakura!" Tenten smiled a bit too big, "You have to see my present for you. It's actually more of a delivery...I ran into someone while I was on my mission and he wanted me to give you this..." Reaching into her back pocket, Tenten pulled out a thin envelope with _Sakura_ written hastily on it.

The medic-nin caught her breath; the handwriting was obviously Sasuke's. Her shaky hands undid the envelope and read the letter inside.

_Sakura, _it read.

_I know that I haven't been around much. Being ANBU is a full-time job, and unfortunately it leaves me no time for things like relationships. I know that getting married and reviving my clan is important, but right now my top priority is avenging my family and killing Itachi. I thank you for being patient, kind, and loving to me, especially after I returned to Konoha, but I'm sorry that all your waiting for me has been in vain. Maybe some day... _

_Until then, _

_Sasuke._

Tears lined Sakura's emerald eyes. Any feelings of hate Tenten had towards her were forgotten when sympathy intruded, "Sakura...are you ok?"

Sakura wiped the tears from her eyes and looked up confidently, "I'm fine. I'm great. Thank you Tenten. This is the best present I could've received, because now I can stop focusing all my energy on Sasuke and truly live my life."

"That's good to hear," Tenten replied warmly. She hated seeing people cry, no matter if they were her friends or enemies, or in Sakura's case, both at the same time.

"So Tenten, what about my Neji-poo?" Ino asked, smirking.

_''Neji-poo'? Ino, you are one strange girl sometimes...'_ the brunette kunoichi looked strangely at Ino.

"I'm still trying...to get you guys together..." Tenten had to keep herself from scowling. She didn't' succeed.

"Don't worry," Sakura said as Ino started to laugh, "Ino-pig never wanted Neji. We all know that she would never stand a chance with him."

Ino stopped her laughter, ignoring Sakura's slight insult, "And all Sakura's flirting with him hasn't been sincere. We just wanted to see how you would react!"

"WHAT?!" Tenten was livid, "Why were you messing with me like that?! I was all freaked out and—"she stopped, realizing that this was the kind of jealous reaction that her girlfriends had wanted, "I know what you're thinking, but I wasn't jealous. I would never be jealous..." Ino and Sakura looked smug; they didn't believe her. Tenten wasn't even sure if she believed herself.

"Tenten, it is fate that we should be together."

"Neji..." Tenten said softly, saying the name of who she believed to be the owner of the voice she had just heard. Except when she turned around, it wasn't Neji.

"Temari?" Tenten's face flushed in embarrassment.

The blonde sand-nin laughed, "You like my Neji impression? I've been working on it!" more laughing ensued.

"WAIT!" Tenten halted the guffawing, "Were you on this 'make-Tenten-like-Neji-by-making-her-jealous' thing too?! Was _everything_ today fake?!"

Ino answered, "You know it! I'm...fine...if Shikamaru wants to be with Temari."

"We may not be friends, but we don't hate each other. Shikamaru is _just _a guy." Temari smiled strongly at the other blonde. Ino smiled as well; it was a pained, forced smile, but a smile nonetheless.

Tenten still felt mildly sorry for Ino. She and the blonde kunoichi had never been great friends either, but Tenten could tell that Ino was really hurt by Shikamaru's choice. Then the weapons mistress remembered that she had current romantic problems of her own, "How come everyone is so insistent on getting me to like Neji?!"

"We don't have to _make _you like him; we know you already do." Shikamaru had appeared, and had his arm slung loosely around Temari's waist.

Almost everyone rolled their eyes in Tenten's direction when she blushed. She refused to let them be right, even if she knew that they…sort of were, "Sorry," she stated definitely, "But your little plan didn't work. I've never felt any feeling towards Hyuuga Neji except for feelings of friendship." Her hands were on her hips and her nose was in the air.

Shikamaru sighed and Chouji approached the group, "You don't have to lie, it's okay! And the good thing is," he said smiling, "you and Neji have about the same hair color, so your kids won't look all that strange with the Byakugan eyes! They'll be experts in weaponry AND gentle fist style!! Your kids will be SUPER NINJAS!!!"

Chouji quickly backed off when Tenten gave him a death glare worse than Gaara's. Well maybe not. I'm not sure how you could manage a death glare worse than Gaara's...

"EH...YEAH!!" Naruto yelled as he jumped into the group.

"Is everyone getting involved with my love life?!" Tenten shrieked at the hyperactive blond ninja.

He, in turn looked confused, "I don't really know what you're talking about so...no?" then he got a perverted look on his face, "But I can be..." he wiggled his eyebrows provocatively.

"Don't even try." She stated simply.

Naruto was wise enough to back up off of his new teammate, "Okay okay. But what were you guys talking about anyway? Tenten's non existent love life?"

"Pretty much," Shikamaru shrugged with a smirk, "But she seems a little resistant to our attempts to hook her up with Neji."

A finger was pointed at Neji, "You'd have a hard time trying to get an ice cube like him to go out with _anyone_." Tenten said, slightly bitter. Luckily her bitterness wasn't picked up on.

* * *

Meanwhile, Neji cocked an eyebrow at the large group Tenten was attracting around her, and the accusing finger she was pointing at him,

"What the...?"

* * *

"Besides," Tenten continued, not noticing that Neji had inched closer to the group and that she now had his full attention, "I don't need a man."

Neji scoffed quietly where he was, a couple yards off, _'I knew she was never a romantic, but I didn't know she was so adamant about being single...'_

The weapons mistress then smiled, "But nice try," she said, ruffling Chouji's hair and pushing Shikamaru closer to Temari (which neither of them objected to). Neji found himself smiling warmly towards her, admiring the way she just _attracted _friends like a magnet. Tenten had come out of her shell quite a bit since they were genin. He remembered the many missions they completed after the Chuunin exams; each one making her a little bit stronger and helping her to form a personality.

Now she radiated. When a smile lit up her face, it lit up the whole room too. She made heads turn; she made people listen to her. Even someone like Neji began to take an even greater notice of her.

The Hyuuga prodigy snapped out of his little daydream to catch the last part of Tenten's conversation, "So you don't like Neji as more than a friend? Not at _all?!?!_" he heard Ino's disbelieving voice.

Tenten answered firmly, "No," was all she said in reply. Unbeknownst to her, Inner Sakura did a victory dance, but Ino looked disappointed.

For some reason, after that answer, Neji was left feeling rather crestfallen. He knew that Tenten was his best friend. He knew that she was a beautiful and kind person, and that he admired her skills as a kunoichi. She was strong; she spoke her mind and always told him when he was being an ass which, surprisingly, made him respect her and her blunt honesty. But he had never put two and two together and thought about his relationship with her. For a genius, he could be pretty dense.

"NEEEEEEEJIIIIII my main MAAAAAAAANNNNNNNN, hic!!" Neji's serious thoughts were interrupted by a blatantly drunk Kiba yelling in his ear, "the mean man at the bar won't give me any more sake!!!" he whined, grabbing the cup in Neji's hands, "Gimme some of yours!!" he then took a hearty sip, only to spit it back out in Neji's face.

"THIS IS NOT ALCOHOL!!!' he roared.

Tenten, attracted to the scene by Kiba's yelling, inspected the cup, "Neji?" she had a quizzical look on her face, "This is…water."

"I...have poor alcohol tolerance..." he replied quietly. He could feel his testosterone level lowering. But he was surprised when he felt Tenten's comforting hand on his shoulder.

"Haha, apparently neither does Kiba." She laughed. Neji noted mentally how pleasant her laugh was, ringing in his ears. His stubbornness had never let him notice before.

But the moment was short-lived, as he saw Tenten heading to the bar with her arm around Kiba, supporting him.

"Don't worry Kiba," she said laughing kindly, "I'll buy us a round!"

* * *

Sakura snickered with a slightly evil look in her eyes when she saw Tenten walk off.

Ino eyed her, "What's the laugh for?"

The pink-haired kunoichi's green eyes swept the area to make sure no one was listening, "Can you keep a secret?" she asked...secretively. (That was a lame adverb to use. –sigh—)

"Yes!! You can absolutely trust me!!" the other kunoichi replied eagerly.

"Tenten doesn't have a romantic interest in Neji...but I think that **_I_** actually might." She grinned slyly.

Her blonde comrade seemed surprised and slightly freaked out...at first. But it wasn't long before she too was giggling evilly and plotting a devious plot to get Sakura and Neji together.

Well, before they were interrupted.

"YOOOOOOOOSH!!!!!!!" Neji could hear the cracking sound of wood as Lee smashed a few tables with his elbows and wobbled out of the bar yelling. Sakura quickly grabbed her on-the-go medical supplies and ran after him. Both of Lee's former teammates watched him with concern, but they knew that it was Sakura's turn to handle him.

A year earlier, when going to bars and coming into contact with alcohol became normal, Tenten, Neji, and Sakura had decided that when Drunken Lee emerged, one of them would handle it so that the others could still have a good time. They took turns and it just happened to be Sakura's turn. This had been hard for Tenten to take; she always wanted to baby Lee and make him better, but she saw it as a logical plan and followed it anyway.

And now that Lee had exited the bar with Sakura in tow, Neji had something else to focus on; Kiba and Tenten.

Her light laugh tickled Neji's ear, "Kiba! That's so perverted!" he hear her squeal. Neji sighed, assuming that Kiba had told her one of his corny pick-up lines, or perverted jokes.

"But you liked it..." he slurred out in a sultry voice. Tenten giggled shamelessly, fingering the shot glass full of vodka she held.

_'It's odd for her to be acting so friendly with someone she barely ever talks to...' _Neji eyed Kiba and Tenten. Then he saw his former teammate down another shot of vodka, _'Well that explains a lot...' _

But Neji couldn't keep his cool when Kiba's right arm slithered around Tenten's waist, or when his left hand touched her hand ever-so possesively. Both of them were blatantly drunk; Kiba was a flirty slut when he was drunk, and Tenten turned into a giggly mess.

"Oh Kiba-kun..." she grinned evilly at him. Neji felt a heap of resentment. This jerk was going to get it soon enough.

"Tenten you see all the presents there?" Kiba motioned to the large pile of gifts for Tenten from all the ninja she knew that had accumulated. Well except for Neji's gift, this was tucked in his back pocket. He was waiting for the perfect moment to give it to her.

Neji watched Tenten nod, and Kiba move closer to her; he stiffened and tried not to stare at them. More like GLARE at them.

"Well," Kiba continued, "I have a _very _special present for you, but it's nothing that I can give you here." He winked and took another sip of his drink, "So you'll just have to come over to my house and get it from me..." Tenten giggled and pulled a strand of hair out of her buns. She suddenly felt the urge to pull them out and wear her hair down.

The thin package with the short sword and the earrings that was resting in Neji's holster suddenly felt very cold and impersonal compared to how grand Kiba's gift sounded. But as Neji's mind began to wander and he thought about what it really could be, he had to suppress a blush and the urge to punch the dog-boy over the bar.

His angry glare followed them as they got up and swaggered over to the door to leave. Before they could leave, Neji spoke, "Wait Tenten. Don't go with him." His voice wasn't loud, but it always seemed to make Tenten sit up and listen. Unfortunately for the Hyuuga prodigy, Drunk Tenten didn't roll like that.

"Awwww, are you jealous?!" Drunken Tenten slurred and hit Sober Neji on the shoulder.

"No, but going..._home _with him is just foolish of you!" Neji felt over-protective, but it was too late to stop now.

Drunken Tenten sneered at him, "I'll do what I want." She grabbed Kiba's hand and they exited the bar. Drunk Kiba gave Neji a quick provocative grin.

Before they set foot on the sidewalk and headed to Kiba's house, Tenten looked back at bewildered Neji and a confused Sakura who was tending to a passed-out Lee. The weapon mistress' alcohol flooded mind was thinking only one thing.

_'This is payback.'_

* * *

**Don't worry; there will be NO MORE KibaTen in this story. I like crack pairings but there are none here. Well maybe just a little... **

**Mori **


	4. An 'S' Rank Mission

**Chapter Four:: An S-Rank Mission **

* * *

Jealous.

That word sounded so foreign to Neji, so...juvenile. The group of twelve Konoha genin that he had been part of had been forced to grow up so quickly when they were in their early teens, so he concluded that they were living out their teenage years now when they should be acting like the 19-year-old and 20-year-old adults they were. Now they were having boyfriends and girlfriends, playing matchmaker...

...being jealous...

Neji couldn't believe that he was actually _jealous._

He wasn't going to deny it. He wasn't going to bullshit himself; he was feeling _very_ envious. Neji had always been over protective of Tenten, but now it was taking on a new form. Now it made him glare at any man that even looked at Tenten for a few seconds too long. It made him want to trade places with Kiba when he saw him making her laugh. Neji wished he could make her laugh.

Because Shikamaru was Tenten's new team leader, he had a key to her apartment and was put in charge of delivering her presents to her place with Chouji (troublesome, he called it.) And when Neji asked them, they reported that she hadn't even been there. Well that would explain why she hadn't come to train with Neji that morning.

If there were an Inner Neji, he would have been screaming out in worry and frustration, but no emotion betrayed Outer Neji's phlegmatic face.

"Have you checked the Inuzuka household?" Neji asked. He hadn't wanted it to come to this.

The Nara genius scoffed, "No way. You check."

"Well you're her team leader." Neji shot back.

"But you're her best friend." Shikamaru said logically.

* * *

"Oh...stop licking...my face...oh...no...Ne—" Right then, Tenten had the powerful urge to say Neji's name, but then she realized that Neji wouldn't ever be licking her face. Then she realized that _someone was licking her face. _

"AHH!!! Get OFF!!!" Tenten's arm swung at the person in front of her face, causing them to yelp. But it wasn't a person, "Oh...Akamaru...you scared me." Tenten apologized to the Inuzuka dog and then took in her surroundings. This was...not her room. It was, however, Kiba's room. In...Kiba's house...

"Yo." Speak of the devil, Kiba grinned down at her position on the floor from his position on the bed.

She groaned, bringing her hand to her aching temples, "Could you not talk so loud? And why the HELL is this room so BRIGHT?!" she squinted and cursed the sunlight. That's right sunlight, fuck you.

Kiba laughed loudly (much to Tenten's displeasure) at her post-drunken state, "I don't get hangovers, but I guess that you're not that lucky."

A moan from Tenten silenced Kiba, "What happened?" she demanded.

"Well you two got smashed last night, and you came back here and passed out." Hana had appeared in the doorway and had her hands on her hips. Then her eyes rolled, "And _no_, nothing..._happened_." she answered Tenten's unspoken question, making the weapons mistress blush with embarrassment.

"I, uh, um, I should just...go..." Tenten's face was flushed and she stuttered.

"Hey," Kiba put his hand on her shoulder, making the Tenten's eyes widen, "Don't be embarrassed. Everyone gets drunk." He chuckled a bit.

His sister smirked, "Yeah, especially you Kiba." Kiba shrugged it off with another laugh.

Seeing the sincerity in his face and smile, Tenten's expression calmed. She realized that the whole incident had already been forgotten.

"HEY!" Kiba exclaimed again, "How about that present? I never gave it to you!" he proceeded to run out of the room. Tenten became a little worried.

"OKAY!!! CLOSE YOUR EYES!!" she heard the Inuzuka boy yell from another room.

But she just smiled and closed her eyes, "They're closed!" The next thing she knew, a small bundle of fur was placed in her arms. Her eyelids fluttered open and she looked down, shocked, and saw a kitten purring and looking up at her.

"Kiba!" Hana scolded, "Are you an Inuzuka or not?!"

"Well, there was this sick kitten...and...I'm REALLY not a cat person...and I figured that Tenten wouldn't mind having a cat...?" he looked over at Tenten, who was smiling widely.

"I don't mind at all!" she said, "I'm glad you thought of me when you found...her? Or is it a 'him'?"

"A him." He replied certainly. Tenten decided that she wouldn't question this.

The small kitten had soft white fur with orange splotches and patches, and he looked perky and playful, "What should his name be?" Tenten asked the Inuzuka siblings.

Hana shrugged, "Don't ask me. But don't rush when naming him."

"Why?" Tenten wondered out loud.

"Naming is very important. Normally our dogs name themselves...but that cat isn't intelligent enough to convey it's feelings to you..." the female Inuzuka smirked jokingly and then waved her hand in front of her face, "I've got to go anyway. I'll see guys later!!" she headed out.

"Be safe, nee-chan!!" Kiba yelled after his sister and then turned to Tenten, "Even though she's older than me, I'm always worrying about her."

Tenten stroked the purring kitten's orange and white fur, "That's because you're a sweet guy Kiba. Worrying about your sister is natural." She beamed at him.

Kiba grinned back and then unexpectedly gave her a quick but confident kiss on the cheek. Tenten smiled and blushed subconsciously, still petting the kitten, not really realizing what had happened. Unfortunately for Kiba, a certain Hyuuga had seen what he had just done.

No, not Hinata...

Hyuuga _Neji_ had been eavesdropping (or as he calls it, 'gathering information') long enough to see the kiss, but not long enough to see that NOTHING had happened between them last night. Right then, he was thinking the worst.

Kiba had smelled Neji's scent earlier, but had assumed that he was just picking it up off of Tenten because she and Neji's scents were often intertwined because they spend so much time together. But as he sensed the heightened anger in Neji's scent, he knew that the Hyuuga must be nearby.

"Tenten, do you think you can get Akamaru for me?" he suggested nonchalantly, "He _really_ doesn't like cats, so he probably ran over to Shino's house."

The young woman nodded, "Can do, Kiba-kun." She ran quickly out of the house and down the street to the Aburame household still clutching the now-distressed kitten.

The Inuzuka smirked and spoke out to Neji now that Tenten was gone, "C'mon out Hyuuga. I know you're there."

Neji flew into the room from a nearby window without hesitating. He charged up to Kiba angrily, but he still looked relatively calm, "What the hell was that?" he asked, trying to keep the tone of his voice blank, but failing.

Kiba continued to smirk, "It's called _flirting_. I know you may not like girls, but some of us do."

This statement enraged Neji, and he rushed at Kiba and swiftly took hold of his collar, lifting him about half a foot off the ground, "Damn you Inuzuka!" he growled, "Don't you ever even _look_ at Tenten like that again."

An equally angry Kiba unsheathed his claws and swiped at Neji's face. The attack was dodged, and the two separated.

"I don't think that you want to start a fight without your precious dog here." Neji smirked and raised his eyebrows, "Both you and Akamaru are pretty much useless in a fight with out each other."

"Don't you dare insult me, or Akamaru!" Kiba roared, aiming a high kick at the Hyuuga. Neji's blocked the hit with his strong hand and then threw Kiba against a wall and pinned him there by his shoulders.

"Remember what I said." He stated simply. Kiba winced from the pain in his arms.

"Neji? What's going on?" Tenten had re-entered the Inuzuka household with the orange and white kitten perched on her head and a surprisingly docile Akamaru in her arms.

Kiba's shoulders were immediately released, and he dropped to the floor with a dull 'thud', clutching his upper arms and cursing Neji under his breath, "Get out of my house Hyuuga..." he muttered sourly.

"I'm sorry for anything that this **_idiot _**had done Kiba," Tenten shook angrily as Akamaru ran to his master. Her eyes were fixed in a hard glare at Neji as she ushered him out of the Inuzuka household, "What the hell?!" she shrieked at him when they were outside.

Tenten never got an answer, as Shizune could be seen running towards them screaming.

"Hyuuga Neji!!" she screamed, only seeing the long-haired Hyuuga. As she approached the duo, she spotted Tenten, "Tenten!" she sighed, relieved, "I'm so glad that you're here too. You and Hyuuga-kun are needed at Tsunade-sama's office _immediately._ Come quickly."

As the trio sprinted to the Hokage's office, Tenten spared a glance at Neji. His face was now void of any emotion at all. Well there went any chance of getting an answer out of him. He was all shinobi now; his mission mode. Tenten had always silently wished that she could have that kind of dedication and sternness, but it was hard when she always had so much on her mind.

When they had traveled the small distance to Tsunade's office, the doors were flung open to reveal Shikamaru, Chouji, and Naruto already there, standing in front of Tsunade's desk.

"I'm glad you're here, thank you Shizune. Now I can explain your mission." The Hokage said to the new arrivals. Shizune nodded and Neji as Tenten stepped up in front of Tsunade.

"The last mission that Team Shikamaru was sent on," she started, "was for records about the Hidden Star Village; Hoshigakure. Unfortunately, unbeknownst to us, some of the more important documents were hidden away from us and are now being protected by a dangerous set of opponents."

"The Akatsuki?!" Naruto interrupted, mentioning the first 'dangerous set of opponents' he could think of.

"No!" Tsunade yelled at the blond ninja, "Nagano Kuro, or _Kiko's father_ as some of you may know him..." she smirked at Naruto, "...hid certain records with two of his older brothers. Their names are Nagano Shiro and Nagano Katsuro. Out of you five I will assemble one three man team and one two man team—or really one man and one woman team—and each team will go after one of the brothers."

Her eyes narrowed seriously, "These are very powerful criminals. Shiro has developed an immense knowledge of weapons and uses a large arsenal of them. He also has been known to use a technique where he uses shadow clones for spying purposes, and disguises his chakra in them so they can't be seen. And Katsuro is an all-around ninja. He's mastered very important elements of taijustu, genjutsu and ninjutsu. You'll need brute force and intelligence to get rid of him."

Naruto grinned and nodded. Brute force was his thing. Shikamaru could do the intelligence part.

"Shikamaru, Chouji, Naruto!" You three will be tailing Katsuro! Tenten, Neji!! You two will be taking down Shiro." Tsunade barked out orders.

"Coordinates?" Shikamaru asked, a bit condescendingly.

Tsunade sighed regretfully, "These maps contain each targets last known coordinates...but you'll have to take it from there." She handed Shikamaru and Neji each a yellowed, folded-up map.

"This is a very serious political matter." She continued, "For reasons I will not disclose, Konoha _needs_ those records on Hoshigakure as soon as possible. This is an S-rank mission that I'm sending you on." The five jounin nodded gravely.

"Well get ready," Tsunade waved them out of her office, "because you leave in an hour."

* * *

"So where are we heading off to?" Tenten asked Neji. Neji had already been dressed in the traditional Hyuuga robes, and had what weapons he needed in his bag. Now they were in Tenten's small apartment, where she was pulling a red quarter-sleeved shirt on over the baby blue tank she had worn last night and fallen asleep in.

Neji averted his eyes when she pulled off the jeans she was wearing to put on her dark blue caprice, "Well these coordinates are actually in Wind Country, in Suna."

"Hmmm..." she replied thoughtfully as she redid the buns on her head and then slung two large scrolls on her back, "That's where Temari, Kankurou and Gaara are from. Temari left for there yesterday night after the party. It takes almost three days to get there..."

The pair exited her apartment and walked quickly to the training grounds behind the Hokage's office where they would be meeting Naruto, Shikamaru and Chouji, "I'm pretty sure that we can reach this spot in two days or less. Probably less." Neji said confidently, "After all, we've done it before."

She nodded at him and ran ahead, "Just give me a second. I need to ask Ino a favor!"

Neji waited outside the Yamanaka Flower Shop while Tenten asked Ino who knows what. She nodded to him as she came out, and they continued on. Soon enough they reached the training ground already occupied by Tsunade, Shizune, Shikamaru, Chouji and Naruto.

_'We're always the late ones….' _Both Neji and Tenten thought despairingly.

The Hokage wasted no time giving them orders, "The new and temporary Team Shikamaru—Shikamaru, Naruto and Chouji—you will be heading north east from this spot. The new and temporary Team Neji—Tenten and Neji—will be heading exactly west from this spot. Waste no time. You leave...now!"

As all five Jounin fanned out in their proper directions, Shizune turned to Tsunade, "Are you sure that it's a good idea sending Neji and Tenten _alone?"_ She asked in a concerned voice.

"Why the hell not?!" Tsunade demanded, "Those two together is the perfect team to go after Shiro. With Tenten's mastery of weapons and Neji's byakugan, they should be able to get those records in...record time!!" the blonde Hokage laughed at her own joke. "Sometimes I wish that those two would just have a kid. I could send that kid on solo mission, and he—or she—would have no problem completing them!" Tsunade considered the possibilities.

Shizune nodded nervously, "I'm not sure...they looked like they were fighting earlier. I know that the Hyuuga is good with not letting his emotions mess up his missions...but Tenten has become much more outspoken than him."

"Just a lovers spat I'm sure..." Tsunade snickered, "They'll be fine. They always are."

Another person made their way onto the training ground, "Tsunade-sama?" Yamanaka Ino chirped, "Tenten asked me to take care of her new kitten. She said that Shizune had him...?"

"Oh yes," Shizune handed the small mewing kitten off to Ino, who nodded graciously and then jogged quickly back onto the street.

_'Now what was all that about Tenten and Neji having children?'_ she asked herself as she entered the Yamanaka Flower Shop and placed the kitten on the counter while trying to figure out what to do with it.

_'And when Tsunade said they were having a 'lovers spat'.' _Ino just _might _have overheard Shizune and Tsunade's conversation about Neji and Tenten. But she wasn't eavesdropping. That was such a silly word. Spying was more like it.

**_'Could Tenten be pregnant with...Neji's BABY?! The Hyuuga clan won't like that. I mean, they're not even married! I didn't even know they were together! Oh, you're very clever Tenten, denying your feelings in public...' _**a very mischievous Inner Ino took the overheard conversation in a new direction.

"Is your owner a ho? A skank? A whore?" Ino asked the tiny kitten innocently. The orange and white kitten cocked its small head at her curiously.

"I didn't think so." Ino said. Was she talking to the kitten? I think she was just talking to herself.

"Still, I think I'll have to do a little..._investigation..." _

* * *

**Why is there so much Ino lately? I'm not sure. I rather like her. **

**I had a bit of a mid-life crisis with this story and changed the names to some of the chapters. I'm not really sure why. **

**This chapter is shorter than I would have liked, but I hope that you'll forgive me!! Read and review por favor!! **

**Mori :D **

**P.S. Wooh! I forgot!! Now that the plot is 'thickening' I can put up the real summary! So that's why it's different. :) **


	5. Gossip Queen

**Chapter Five:: Gossip Queen**

* * *

"Kiba, Kiba, Kiba, Kiba, Kiba, KIBA!!!" Ino knocked loudly on the door to the Inuzuka household (still holding the kitten for lack of knowing what to do with it) and yelled out for Kiba.

"What?!' he yelled at her when he opened the door, "Hey that's Tenten's—"

"Oh, the kitten you gave her?" Ino finished, inviting herself in, "Tenten went on an _important _mission and asked me to take care of him." She whispered the last part to him, "A mission with _Neji."_

"Ugh," Kiba groaned, "That asshole?"

Ino looked a bit surprised at Kiba's response, "I never knew that you hated Neji! What happened between you two?!"

The dog-boy waved his hand in front of her face, "Eh, I won't go into detail. But let's just say that if Shikamaru thought _you and Temari _were troublesome, then he's never tried flirting with _Tenten_..."

His blonde companion smirked at him, "Oh poor baby. Did Tenten shoot you down?"

Psssh, someone shoot down Inuzuka Kiba? Who says such ridiculous things?

Kiba had the same reaction, "No!" he yelled defensively, "But Hyuuga wasn't too happy with it..."

The baby blue eyes of Ino lit up curiously, "He's so over protective of her!!"

"You know it..." Kiba grumbled, massaging his sore shoulders bitterly.

"Wait!" Ino tried to remember why she was there, "I came here for something…a piece of information…oh yeah!" Kiba smiled at her loud, preppy voice. _'Some things never change…' _he thought. Maybe that was a good thing.

"Do you know anything about Tenten being pregnant?" Ino asked straight-out. Beating around the bush was not her thing.

Kiba was taken aback by her blunt question, "We didn't do anything! I SWEAR TO YOU!" he pleaded her. He knew that his sister and—gulp—his mother would be hounding him day and night if they thought that he had gotten a girl pregnant. _'But nothing happened!'_ Kiba yelled inside his head, _'Where the hell is she getting this?!'_

The hand that she wasn't using to hold the kitten found it's way to Ino's hip and she sighed, frustrated, "I don't think that you got her pregnant, but I did overhear this _very _interesting conversation about her and _Neji_ having a baby pretty soon…"

The Inuzuka boy rolled his eyes exasperatedly at her, "That's just gossip. You shouldn't believe everything you hear Ino."

"But it WASN'T just gossip!!" Ino pouted, "Why would Tsunade-sama bother with _gossiping…_?"

If Kiba had been drinking something right then, he would have spit it out in surprise. Luckily he wasn't, "What?! You heard this from TSUNADE-SAMA??! Oh my gosh…Tenten really IS pregnant! No wonder Neji freaked out at me…I mean, I guess he had a right to get that mad at me. But wait!—they're not even married! Did anyone know that they were even together? That is—" the dog-boy's rant ended when Ino put her finger to his lips to silence him. The bold action made him blush and pull away, flustered.

"Don't tell ANYONE!!" Ino demanded, "If everyone finds out, Tenten and Neji will get SUPER mad at me. And they're two people that you don't want to get mad."

"I promise."

* * *

Tenten leaped from tree branch to tree branch, resisting the urge to whine. She and Neji had been travelling towards Suna for almost ten hours now, with only two or three briefs breaks within that time. It had been about 12:00pm when they had left Konoha, and now as Tenten looked at the position of the moon and the types of nocturnal animals around her, she guessed that it was almost 10:00pm. There was no way she could handle much more of this. Her body was in almost perfect physical shape, but she was still feeling the pains of her hangover. And she never had and never would have the endurance of the amazing Hyuuga Neji.

"Neji…we should stop for now. Can we take a short…well…long break?" she asked hopefully after battling with herself about whether she should ask or not.

Luckily though, Neji responded calmly, "Alright. It is dark…"

"Haha…Neji…" Tenten laughed a little bit at him when they landed in a small clearing, "It's been dark for two or three hours now."

Her companion shrugged and then crossed his arms, "I thought that we were trying to get to Suna as fast as we could." Tenten just shoved a small sleeping bag at the Hyuuga prodigy.

"Even great ninjas like you have to have SOME sleep. We should just rest for a bit…let's say that we start heading towards Suna around 2:00am. That's four hours of sleep. I hope that's not too long for _some of us…_" she said mockingly.

"Hn."

Tenten smirked at his response, and then the two Jounin rolled out their sleeping bags next to each other. They lied down silently, the young woman falling asleep quickly, the young man staying awake. Neji fixed his pale eyes on the slim sliver of the moon that could be seen through the trees to distract himself from the proximity of Tenten. He indulged himself and glanced over at the sleeping figure. He had the urge to touch her, brush the hair from her face, but he resisted. Tenten's kunoichi instincts would awaken her at any touch, no matter how light, or any sound, no matter how quiet. That was one reason that they didn't have to take turns sleeping and keeping watch.

"Neji…?" she heard a slightly raspy voice come out of her lips.

He waited a bit before answering, in case she was sleep talking, "…yes?"

Her eyes were closed, but she was still awake, "What…happened? With you and Kiba?"

The Hyuuga gulped nervously, "I…we just got in a fight. It was stupid."

"Why did you get mad at him?" Tenten asked innocently.

Neji didn't want to lie, he couldn't lie to her, "I was…I thought that he might have done something to you. I was just worried about you." He admitted.

Tenten could be seen smiling, "Oh okay. That's okay. It looked kind of like you were trying to rape him." She mused.

"What the…?!" Neji sat up, enraged at her accusation, but he found her falling back into sleep and looking rather serene, so he laid back down. Tenten turned onto her side so that her face was almost leaning against Neji's shoulder. He felt a nervous shiver down his back at the proximity.

Sleeping this close to each other on missions was something that they had done as genin and chuunin as well; it was nothing new. But now, in light of recent events and realizations, Neji had to ask himself a question.

_'Can I resist myself…?' _he wondered if he could handle being alone with his female best friend anymore.

_'This is going to be a very long four hours…_

_and a very long mission…' _

* * *

While musing on the subject, Ino decided that Sakura should have been named 'Gossip'. Why? Well because Ino had the same relationship with gossip as she did with the pink haired medic nin; Love/Hate.

Gossip was amazing and could spread information all throughout Konoha and it's neighboring countries. But it could also spreading information around that Ino didn't necessarily want everyone to know.

Yes, the rumor about Tenten being pregnant with Neji's child had made its way around Konoha and was on it's way to Konoha's allied countries. Ino herself was guilty of telling someone other than Kiba. But hey, it had to be done…!!

>> >

(italics indicate a flashback CHAAAAA!!!)

_Ino walked toward Ichiraku Ramen lazily. She had finally escaped from missions, and training, and working at the flower shop and had already decided to give the responsibly of taking care of the kitten to an obliging Lee. And she had agreed to meet Kiba for a lunch. The blond had been thoroughly surprised when he had asked her to meet him there the previous day, after she told him about Neji and Tenten, his face flushing red._

_'**Then again…' **she thought, smirking, **'…my sexiness would make any man blush.'**_

_"Hello Ino-chan!" Sakura greeted her, and Ino turned back and smiled at her._

_"Hey forehead-girl!" Ino said playfully._

_Sakura pouted before perking up again, "Hey, have you come up with any new ideas to help me snag the illustrious Neji-san?"_

_"Actually…" Sakura looked worried as Ino started her response, "I don't really think that you want to be with Neji-san. He's…already…with someone…"_

_The medic-nin looked furious, "WHO?! So help me, Ino-pig, if you've stolen Neji-san from me, I will rip you apart and—"_

_The blonde silenced her by pulling her into one of Konoha's many deserted alleys, "NO! And I'm not supposed to tell you this, but…" Ino's head whipped from side to side to check that there were no eavesdroppers, "Neji kind of…got someone pregnant. Tenten. It was Tenten. He got her pregnant." Ino wanted to make sure that Sakura didn't think that Neji had gotten her pregnant._

_Sakura's face was blank and unresponsive to the piece of information that she was just given. Her mouth hung agape and her arms hung limply at her sides._

_"Oh. My. Gosh." Was all she said before sprinting away suddenly._

_Ino had succeeded in clearing her own name from the 'infatuated with Neji' list and was therefore satisfied. She hadn't yet realized what exactly she had told Sakura, and that she had subconsciously added Tenten's name to that very same list. Oops. _

* * *

_He wasn't exactly sure why he had acted on his impulses and asked Ino out to Ichiraku Ramen, but there he was, waiting for her. She was late but Kiba wasn't surprised._

_"Hey…dog-boy…er…Kiba!! Yeah, Kiba, hey!" Kiba turned around to see Kankurou struggling to remember the Inuzuka's name. He was flanked by a silent Gaara, who was looking calm as usual with his arms crossed._

_"Oi, sand sibs…where's Temari?" Kiba was curious to know where the third sand sibling was._

_"She's helping out the new Kazekage back in Suna." Kankurou responded. Kiba nodded._

_"Yes," Gaara confirmed, "but we've still got a meeting with the Hokage. We should really be going."_

_His brother didn't look too eager to get involved with more political business, and because Gaara was being unusually docile today, he decided that he decided to take a risk and whine, "But Gaara, I'm so hungry!! Can't YOU got to meet the Hokage while I stay here and eat ramen and chat it up with my good friend…er…crap…Kiba!? Eyaah, Kiba."_

_Gaara didn't even want to bother with his brother, "Do what you want." He said waving his hand at the older boy and walking towards Tsunade's office._

_Kankurou smiled triumphantly and then sat down at the counter and wasted no time ordering a steaming hot bowl of ramen-y goodness, "So what're you up to?" he asked Kiba out of politeness. Kiba almost looked apprehensive to answer._

_"Umm…I'm waiting for Ino…" he mumbled his answer. This was unusual. Normally he was flaunting his dates and telling everyone what hot girl he had asked out now. This time he was feeling very cautious; he didn't want Ino to think badly of him, **'What's wrong with me?' **he asked himself, **'Ino isn't different than any other girl…right?'**_

_"Hmmm…" Kankurou said thoughtfully, shoving a large bit of ramen into his mouth, "A GUY waiting for a GIRL? Just ain't right, just ain't right…" he swallowed, "So how's everyone else doing? Temari doesn't really talk about anyone other than Shikamaru, and sometimes that Tenten girl. How's that weird bug guy doing? Or…that long-haired gay guy who used to be on Tenten's team?"_

_Kankurou was bothering Kiba. Of course Kiba had always admired his skill and had tolerated him as somewhat of a friend, but right now he was in not mood for the puppet master's infamous attitude, **'Gay guy who used to be on Tenten's team with LONG hair? He can't mean Neji! And hey!—Shino isn't that weird…'**_

_"Do you mean Neji?" Kiba asked, referring to the latter of Kankurou's questions._

_"Yeah!" Kankurou said, pointing his chopsticks at Kiba, "That's his name."_

_The look Kiba gave Kankurou was that of disbelief, "You can't seriously think that NEJI is GAY!! I mean, I used to think he was a little fruity with that hair and stuff, but he's definitely 100 straight." Kiba thought about the pregnancy rumor and decided that Tenten wouldn't really have sex with a homosexual._

_"Really?" Kankurou said apathetically, "Then prove it."_

_Kiba took this as a challenge. And you know Kiba NEVER backs down from a challenge, "Why would he get a girl pregnant if he was gay?" he shot back without thinking._

_Kankurou replied just as quickly, "That depends; which girl is it?"_

_"Tenten." Kiba's reply came out of his mouth without being properly processed through his brain. Before he could realize what he was saying, it was already out there. Oops. (Again.)_

_The puppet master spit out the large mouthful of ramen he had the moment he heard his sister's best friend's name, "WHAT?!" he yelled in disbelief, "T-Tenten is PREGNANT?!"_

_"DON'T YELL!!" Kiba yelled himself and lunging forward he clamped his hand over Kankurou's mouth, "Crap. I wasn't supposed to say anything. Ino is going to KILL me." He said this last part more to himself._

_Kiba saw Ino approaching with a puzzled look on her face, so he quickly released the sand-nin from his grip and tried to sit down and calm himself, "NOTHING HAPPENED!!" he screamed nervously when Ino walked up beside him._

_Ino looked even more confused now, "I didn't even ask anything…" Kiba gave her a sheepish grin and a guilty chuckle, "Okay now I know that something happened. What did you do?" she demanded, hand on her hip._

_Kankurou gave her an innocent shrug and turned back to his ramen, "Um…I kind of told him about the whole Tenten and Neji thing…" Kiba said after a bit of silence and tension in the air._

_"WHAT?!" Ino reacted to what Kiba said violently, "I can't believe that you just TOLD someone all willy-nilly!"_

_"'Willy-nilly'? Wow, you Konoha ninjas are certainly fearsome…" Kankurou laughed sarcastically when he heard what Ino said. He was silenced with a glare from the blonde kunoichi._

_"INO-PIG!!!" the two boys looked past Ino and saw Sakura running towards them screeching Ino's name._

_"I'm busy Sakura-forehead-girl." Ino spat, her cold, icy blue eyes still focusing on a very guilty Kiba. _

_**'How could Chouji and Shikamaru stand this for so many years...?' **he thought despairingly._

_The Haruno girl would not be refused though. She went to drastic measures. The drastic measure of screaming, "WELL DAMN YOU INO!! I DON'T BELIEVE YOU AT ALL!!! I WENT TO SEE HIASHI-SAN, AND HE SAYS THAT HYUUGAS CAN'T GET PEOPLE PREGNANT UNTILL THEY'RE MARRIED!!!"_

_"Sakura, you IDIOT!! Great job, screaming it out to the world!" Ino threw her arms in the air and charged at the other young woman, "I cannot BELIEVE that you went to the Hyuuga clan!! Our asses are **toast**!!!!!"_

_Kiba then jumped up and pointed and Ino accusingly, "A-**HA**!! You told someone else that Neji got Tenten pregnant too!! So you can't get mad at me!!"_

_Several onlookers had stopped to take in the scene. Kankurou also stared at the Konoha ninja absentmindedly before he spoke._

_"Man, so either Tenten isn't pregnant, or she is and Neji is in big trouble with his clan." He stated matter-of-factly, closing his eyes and nodding his head. If there's one thing Kankurou is good at, it's stating the obvious._

_An already bewildered blonde kunoichi turned to him with rage in her eyes, "Tenten is most definitely pregnant!!! I don't make stuff like this up! I heard it from Tsunade-sama herself." The crowd of people broke out into murmurs when they heard the Hokage herself being entered into this scandel._

_Kankurou smirked, "Okay, but I have one question."_

_"What?" and exasperated Ino asked._

_"Were you trying to keep Tenten's pregnancy secret?" he asked smugly, gesturing to the crowd of people now atwitter with the new gossip, "Because you didn't really succeed." _

_>> >_

That had been over an hour ago. Now the pair were sulking in Kiba's room, attemping to come up with ideas to keep the rumor under wraps. It was actually far too late for that.

Kiba had invited Sakura and Kankurou to join them at his house, but Sakura had said something along the lines of 'If Ino-pig won't help me with my love life, I won't help her with hers!' and stomped off and Kankurou declined, saying that he had to wait for Gaara.

"We are SO dead." Kiba stated after more than a few minutes of silence, "Neji already hates me, and now he's going to skin me alive with his eight trigrams…thing…"

Ino sighed and agreed, "Yep.

"And there's nothing we can do about it?" this was more of a statement than a question.

"Nope."

* * *

"Ah, Gaara, what took so long?" Kankurou polished off a bowl of ramen and paid the man behind the counter when he saw Gaara approaching.

"Follow me and I'll tell you." Kankurou nodded seriously and followed his brother who was heading north, "Where are we going anyway?" he knew the topography of the area well enough to know that they were heading to a part of Suna they had never entered before, and he wasn't really sure why.

If Gaara had eyebrows, they would have furrowed at that moment, but his lack there of left his face relatively emotionless, "The Hokage has asked that we catch up with two Jounins of hers and help them in their mission."

"Who and why?" were his brothers only questions.

"One is Temari's friend Tenten. The other is Hyuuga Neji-san. Godaime-sama says that Tenten-san is pregnant with Neji-sans's child, and she decided not to take any risks."

Kankurou gave his bother a look of surprised and shock, "Wow, so the rumors I've been hearing all day _are_ true!! I can't believe that Hyuuga got her pregnant!"

"You sound slightly angry." Gaara observed.

"I'm just anticipating Temari's anger. I know that she's never been too fond of that Hyuuga guy." Kankurou was smooth with his reply.

Gaara only grunted in response. He was still not that much of a talker.

* * *

About five hours later, the pair of sand nins were still gliding through the trees. Even though they didn't flaunt it, the pair from Suna was usually twice as fast as most Konoha jounin. Therefore, they had traversed the same distance as Neji and Tenten in half the time.

And everything was going smoothly…until dear old Kankuro fell.

Falling was always embarrassing for him. But it was twice as embarrassing now, because as he lost his footing on the slick tree branch and jetted himself diagonally towards the forest floor he landed on…a sleeping Tenten.

"Kankurou…" Gaara sighed exasperatedly at his clumsy brother, who had quickly leapt off of Tenten, yelling apologies and cursing himself.

"Wha…?" A groggy Tenten lifted her hand to her forehead and squinted at the dim sunlight light greeting her eyes, "No! It's already sunset?! Neji, how long did you let me sleep?!!" the kunoichi bounced up immediately and concentrated herself on Neji, not even noticing the appearance of the sand duo.

Neji looked at her passively from his position leaning against a nearby tree, "You know that vodka makes you sick. I determined that if I had woken you up, you would've gotten sick in the middle of the day and made us lose more time than if I just let you sleep most of the day. Now we can move faster and reach our destination by the end of the night."

'_Ugh…that logical bastard…'_ Tenten pouted and turned her back to him stubbornly, "Oh…" she said when she noticed a flustered Kankurou and a passive Gaara, "Hello…? When did you get here…?"

"When my oh-so smooth brother fell on top of you." Was Gaara making a joke?!

Neji had walked up and now stood by Tenten's side, "I'm not really sure how you didn't feel _that_." He said mockingly, pointing to the older sand sibling.

"Well fine!" Kankurou yelled at him childishly, "I guess that you don't want our help!!"

"Were you guys supposed to catch up to us?" Tenten asked.

"Were you sent by Hokage-sama?" Neji wondered out loud. He was slightly insulted that Tsunade had thought that they needed…_reinforcements,_ "Because we don't need any of your help."

"Au contraire!" Kankurou practiced his foreign languages, "Hokage-sama doesn't want a woman fighting while she's pregnant! So you NEED us."

Tenten's eyes widened and she turned to Neji and eyed his slim stomach, "Is there something you'd like to tell me Neji?"

"What exactly did Tsunade-sama tell you?!" Neji roared, advancing at Kankurou. Gaara flinched and moved closer to his brother, ready to move in from of him if the Hyuuga came any closer.

"Are you mad that she found out that you got Tenten pregnant? Well you're about to get angrier, because the whole village knows now." Kankurou spat out without thinking.

"WHAT??!!" Tenten's face flushed a shade of bright red and she marched up to Kankurou and looked up at him menacingly. Even though he had been a short teenager, Kankurou was now nearing six feet, while Tenten's petite frame only reached 5'7".

_'How can she be so intimidating when she's so short?!'_ Kankurou asked himself.

"Do I LOOK pregnant to you?!" Tenten screeched at the clearly frightened (and slightly amused) Kankurou, "You're Temari's brother—my _best girlfriend's _brother! I can't begin to fathom why you would believe a lie so STUPID about me!! I know that Hokage-sama is just taking precautions because of that…that rumor, but couldn't you even stand up for me?! I know we're not great friends, but you know me well enough to know that I wouldn't get pregnant when I don't even have a BOYFRIEND!!!!" the weapons mistress finished her rant and glared at the puppet master, who was looking more amused now.

"Why aren't you yelling at Gaara?" he mocked.

"BECAUSE YOU TALK A HELL OF A LOT MORE THAN HE DOES!! IF ANYONE WAS GOING TO _SAY SOMETHING, _IT WOULD BE YOU, BECAUSE YOU TALK ENOUGH FOR YOURSELF AND HIM!!!" she roared at him before turning around to stand next to Neji and pout. Yelling at someone wasn't like her, but the thought that someone would think that she was pregnant made Tenten angrier than she had ever been before. She caught sight of Gaara's smirk and his nod to Kankurou as he raised his lack of eyebrows at his brother.

"…" Kankurou was speechless for the first time in his life, and Neji looked relatively pleased with Tenten's defense of herself.

"Hey, sorry to interrupt whatever the hell's going on here," a deep voice sounded as two newcomers entered the clearing, "but I've got a bit of a problem. I know that asking for _favors_ isn't much like me…but whatever." The male shrugged.

"Uchiha…"

* * *

**Well that was a _little_ bit longer than my chapters usually are. I can't believe how long I made the flashback, but whatever.**

**I know that there wasn't much action or Tenten/Neji bits in here, but just be patient, because I'm pretty sure that the next chapter will bring out Jealous Neji, and he's always fun to mess around with. Harharhar…**

**AND…SASUKE!! Yay! I know some people hate him…but I've liked him a lot more of late. So he enters the fic!**

**Read and Review, because…you guys already know that I'll be sad if you don't.**

**Mori ;D**


	6. Enter: Sasuke

**Chapter Six:: Enter: Sasuke.**

**I tried to make this chapter extra fantabulous. I _TRIED_**

**Please forgive me for the uber lateness. I can't believe how long I made you guys wait, And I feel horrible. I'm sorry. D: **

* * *

Whenever Neji said Uchiha Sasuke's name, he growled and glared instinctively. His omnipresent enmity for the Uchiha had no specific rhyme or reason, but Sasuke always returned the glares—with a smirk. This time was no exception.

"Hy-Hyuuga." He stuttered out before clutching the side of his chest and wincing in pain. Blood poured onto his hand, but it didn't stifle his hate.

"Sasuke, you're a mess!!" Tenten ignored the prodigies' silent battle and darted to Sasuke's side. He was indeed a mess; the badly wrapped kunai wound he was currently clutching was only one of many injuries he had. His raven hair was matted on one side with crimson blood from a large cut on his head and his right calf was looking curiously mangled, only to mention a few.

"Kakashi-sensei, what the hell happened?" Tenten asked the second man that had entered the clearing. The masked man was rubbing his temples in thought.

Power was what Sasuke had first gone to Orochimaru for, but after getting what he wanted, he had left the man with little thought and started his own team; Team Hebi. Unfortunately, things don't always turn out the way you want them, and after Juugo was killed in a battle, Suigetsu and even the adoring Karin had left him and formed their own team together. Sasuke had always suspected that they really didn't hate each other as much as they said.

But after that he had little left, so he returned to Konoha to become ANBU and keep pursuing his elusive brother. He had been 16 at the time of his return, become a Jounin at 17 and had recently been promoted to ANBU no less than a month after becoming a Jounin. A seventeen-year-old ANBU. Fearing the boy would rebel again, Kakashi had returned to ANBU and had become Sasuke's mission partner. The duo made a well-oiled assassination machine, but clearly something had gone wrong this time.

"I'm fine…" Sasuke tried to regain what little dignity he had left and put more weight on his injured leg, only causing him to stumble more and be caught by a nearby Tenten. _'Good job Uchiha,' _he said to himself, _'you look like a fool. Hyuuga is never going to let me live this down…' _Sasuke looked up at Neji expecting to see his white eyes laughing and taunting him, but instead he saw a jealous glare. A curiously possessive glare that was directed at him and Tenten.

That was when Sasuke realized the position that he and Tenten were in. His head was leaned on Tenten's slim shoulder with his hair brushing against her neck and chin. During his small stumble he had wrapped his left arm instinctively around the first thing it made contact with; her upper torso. She hadn't reacted to this, but when she reached out to catch him, her right arm had gotten tangled with his. Her left hand was placed under his chest where she was trying to stop the blood flow from a shallow cut that was counted among his many injuries.

The positioning was no big deal to Tenten, who saw it only as helping someone who was hurt, and therefore a kunoichi's duty, but to the many hormonal young men present, it looked a bit strange.

"Would your favor be for us to take you to Konoha's hospital?" she grinned cheekily down at him.

"That was actually the exact favor that _I_ wanted to ask you." Kakashi said gratefully, "I need to complete the mission, but Sasuke needs any medical treatment he can get right now."

Tenten's nodded at her former sensei, "I have a good amount of intermediate medical knowledge, so I'll treat him as much as I can until we reach Konoha." Her idolization of Tsunade had influenced her to take more medical classes than she really needed.

Neji intervened, "I'm sorry to interrupt, but we already have a mission to complete as well. I'm sure that Gaara-san and Kankuro-san can take Uchiha…_kun._" He spat out the suffix disdainfully.

"Ahhh, that reminds me…" Kakashi fumbled around in a pocket on his ANBU vest, finally pulling out a folded piece of paper, "I intercepted a carrier pigeon that had this message tied to it's leg. The message is meant for you and Tenten."

"Let me see that." Neji was very irritated and so quickly swiped the paper away from Kakashi rudely.

_To Hyuuga Neji and Tenten:_

_I've just received word that Tenten is pregnant with Hyuuga-kun's child. Due to Tenten's condition, I've decided that it really is best that you not continue on the mission. I would like you both to return to Konoha immediately. Please thank the sand ninja for their help anyway._

_--Tsunade_

"'Tenten's _condition_…'" he read parts of the letter aloud, "'…return to Konoha immediately…thank the sand ninja for their help…' whatever…" he didn't bother passing the letter to Tenten, and instead stuffed it into his bag, "It's from the Hokage. I guess that we are going back to Konoha." He said defeated.

"We'll get to Konoha as fast as we can and bring Sasuke to see Sakura-chan at the hospital." Tenten said officially to Kakashi, who nodded his head and sighed relieved.

"I'm very grateful." He replied before clapping Sasuke very lightly on the shoulder and whizzing of to an unknown location.

Neji was insanely angry, but everyone besides Tenten was oblivious to it. Because the brunette could feel the infuriated chakra around her former teammate, she decided to let him be. Bothering him would only make him angrier.

"Kankuro-san, Gaara-kun, will you be returning to Konoha with us?" she asked smoothly, preparing to leave.

"Eh, I don't think so." Kankuro answered first.

"We really sould return to Suna to assist my sister," Gaara gave a more involved, but still short answer, "but we will be coming back to Konoha soon."

"Well, we hope to see you then." Tenten smiled at them. Kankurou nodded. Neji grunted. Sasuke was barely on the verge of consciousness.

Smiles directed towards him always Gaara feel a bit strange, so he quickly turned away and darted off after saying a quick 'farewell'.

"Later. Have fun you three." Kankurou winked and then sped off after his brother.

There was a small awkward silence as Neji turned all his attention to Tenten, but now she was fixated on Sasuke. He watched with hot blood as his best friend gently removed the Uchiha's vest and shirt and pressed her hand more urgently against the largest wound there. Sasuke didn't even flinch when she laced her slender arms around his torso to wrap several layers of bandages around it. Water was poured over his head, and her fingers combed his hair out of the way so that she could look at the gash in his head. Tenten applied some sort of antibiotic that Neji didn't recognize on it and it was wrapped as well. The Hyuuga had to bite his lip to keep an angry blush off his face as he watched her rub ointment on his leg and wind the white cloth around it lovingly and carefully. Her face, on the other hand, remained concentrated and unaffected by her closeness to Sasuke. The patient's black eyes followed her lazily as he bordered between sleep and reality.

When Tenten had done all she could do for some of the more major wounds Sasuke had, she looked up at him shyly and smiled warmly. She pulled his shirt back over his head, but disregarded the tight vest, and then placed her small hand on his shoulder kindly, which made the raven-haired man smile gratefully back at her before falling off to sleep in her arms. This was the part that bothered Neji the most. There was closeness there he had never known existed.

Damn him. Damn that Uchiha.

"Damn you, Uchiha…" Neji thought out loud.

Much to his dismay, Tenten overheard him. Her head snapped up, "What was that?" Her warm brown eyes narrowed to two dark slits. Now he had to think up an excuse. Luckily, he was Hyuuga Neji, the excuses MASTER.

"I said…'can you get Uchiha?'" He said quickly, "I was wondering if I could carry the bags, and you could carry Uchiha. I mean, he can't really walk now can he?" Even as he said it, it sounded stupid, but Tenten just nodded at what Neji said and preceded to gingerly lift Sasuke up and hold him bridal style. It looked odd, but Tenten really wasn't the type of girl who cared.

"Okay." She said to Neji, kicking the supplies back towards him and nodding her head once again, "Then let's get going." She crouched down and then propelled herself up and into the trees toward Konoha.

Neji, mouth gaping and mind racing followed after almost obediently. Now that his odd penchant for his former teammate had come to a head, every time she made contact with another man his pulse quickened and his blood boiled with anger and jealousy. And, as he jumped from tree to tree after her, he vowed that he would ask how the hell she and Uchiha had gotten so close. He would try his hardest not to be obvious.

But currently, he was trying his hardest to resist himself and not check out her ass…

* * *

The bright sunlight that reflected off the white paint that covered their house made Kankurou squint and curse. Who the hell had decided to paint that damned building stark white anyway?

As he entered the rather large house that he and his siblings shared he wiped the sweat off his brow and bellowed out for his sister.

"Oi, Temari!!" his loud voice rang out through the halls.

After a few seconds of dead silence, another loud voice responded, "Whadda you want?!" a flustered Temari emerged into Kankurou's line of vision not too long after.

Kankurou smirked at how easily he could annoy his older sister, "Guess who's pregnant." _'Even if Tenten really isn't pregnant…Temari doesn't know that. I think that I'll have a bit of fun with this…' _he thought devilishly.

"Who?!" Temari demanded, walking closer to him eagerly.

"I said _guess._" He taunted her.

Temari taunted him right back, "Is it you? Will I be an auntie soon?"

Kankurou threw his hat at her in a feeble attempt at real anger. In truth, he was too curious to see how his sister would react to the news of Tenten's alleged pregnancy to really be mad, "Hahaha, you're so funny, but no. It's someone in Konoha."

She grinned innocently, "Aww, and I was going to guess Gaara next. Where is he by the way…?"

"Taking over babying the new Kazekage. I don't have the stomach for politics, and I really hate that new loser of a ninja, so I left." He shrugged, "Do you just want me to tell you who?"

"Yes please, my _dear brother…_" Temari said sarcastically.

"Tenten."

At hearing this, Temari's previously smirking face twisted and became one of anger and disbelief. She whipped out her hand and grabbed hold of Kankurou's collar, "What the hell did you DO TO HER?!"

Poor Kankurou didn't even have time to respond, as Temari slapped him across the face fiercely and then grabbed her fan and ran off out of town.

"I'LL KILL YOU WHEN I GET BACK!!" she yelled back angrily; obviously heading off to Konoha.

"Wha…? But I…and Neji…I didn't…" Kankurou whimpered uselessly and then slumped to the ground, "But I didn't do anything…damn it. Now I know how Tenten feels…"

* * *

Kankurou's alleged lover—I mean, _Tenten_, was sprinting innocently and eagerly to Konoha; Sasuke sleeping peacefully in her arms. Neji was not too far behind her, glowering once again at the closeness of Uchiha and his beloved Tenten.

Many hours passed like this until Tenten landed in a small clearing similar to the one that she and Neji had slept in the previous night.

"Okay, carrying someone else with as much muscle as Sasuke is A LOT harder than I thought…" she said sheepishly, laying the other man down gingerly, making sure not to wake him..

"Hn."

"Oh…is it alright if we stop so soon?" Tenten was wary of what Neji thought they should do.

"Hn."

"I'll…take that as a yes?"

"Hn."

"I think that it's okay to start a fire, right?"

"Hn."

Tenten, being one of the few human beings who could understand and decipher the Hyuuga prodigy's 'hn's, knew that that translated to "It's fine by me, I don't really care right now, and I don't want to concern myself with conversing with you."

Goddamn, that childish response could really get on Tenten's nerves sometimes…but she shook it off. She started a small fire to provide warmth for Sasuke; the brunette kunoichi could feel his skin chilling and was beginning to really worry about him. While freshening up the bandages on his wounds, she heard the low baritone of Neji's voice from behind her.

"How do you know him?"

Tenten didn't look over at him and answered teasingly, "Everyone knows the infamous Uchiha Sasuke."

Neji exhaled sharply, "But you two are almost…friendly." The tone of his voice was tentative.

"Let's see…" Tenten turned to Neji and brushed her hands against her thighs to clean them, "The year that Lee became a Jounin too, and you two left the team to be on a Jounin squad was also the year that Sasuke came back and became a Chuunin, so he was put on a team with Gai and I. And that's pretty much it."

"Did anything…happen?" Neji couldn't believe what he was asking.

The question wouldn't have been normal coming from someone else, but this was Neji we're talking about. Tenten knew what he meant and she blushed in spite of herself, "No." It was a lie, but she didn't really want to think about the happenings of that year. She and Neji had exchanged only a handful of words that year because of the sudden separation, but Sasuke had entered her life in his stead and been a bit more than a friend to her.

But then Sasuke too had become a Jounin, and Tenten had decided to take up training with Neji again. Life then returned to normal. It was as simple as that, Tenten thought.

"…You always play with your hair when you're lying…" Neji looked at her knowingly.

Tenten brought her hand down from where she was brushing her bangs out of her face. She felt foolish…she should have realized that Neji knew her better than Tenten knew herself…that he would pick up on things like that.

"Well…whatever started that year, also ended that year." She said smoothly.

Neji looked at her seriously, but said nothing. Tenten felt as if she had to give some sort of excuse to why she had once had feelings for Sasuke, and why she didn't any longer.

"Now he's got Sakura back, sort of," she continued, "and I've…become a Jounin." Tenten cursed at herself under her breath. She was about to say 'and I've got _you_ back Neji…'

* * *

If our favorite weapons mistress thought that there would be no awkwardness between her and Neji after the happenings of the day before, then she was very wrong. The Hyuuga prodigy had said no more than two words to her before they set out again towards Konoha, and offered no more than a 'Hn' in response to any question she asked him that day.

Being too petite to carry the muscle-heavy Sasuke on her back, Tenten continued to carry him unusually in a bridal style. And after sleeping for so long, he also woke up in her arms.

"Tenten…how long was I asleep? I wasn't aware that we got married." Sasuke mocked their odd position. His injuries hadn't dampened his slick, sarcastic sense of humor.

Unabashed, Tenten continued darting from tree to tree, "You can't walk or jump, so I'm carrying you."

"Who says I can't walk? I feel fine." Sasuke persisted stubbornly.

From in front of her, Tenten thought she heard Neji scoff, "Just look at your leg. There's practically a hole in it." She said sternly.

She stopped jumping, and Sasuke sat on a tree branch and undid the bandages on his leg. "See?" he said, smirking, "There's not even a scratch there."

Neji appeared behind Tenten instantly and inspected Sasuke's leg with his Byakugan. "There really is nothing wrong. That's impossible..." He stated.

Tenten nodded and agreed. She could have sworn that the night before his leg had had a giant wound there that almost made a hole in his calf. She watched as Sasuke ripped the binding off of his arm and head and revealed two perfectly normal surfaces without blemish.

"Wait…" she said reaching out to lift up the raven-haired boy's shirt.

"What the HELL?!" Sasuke and Neji yelled at almost the same time.

"Chill out." Tenten said sternly. Sasuke relaxed, but Neji looked tenser than ever as his teammate reached her hands under the Uchiha's shirt and felt around his chest.

Despite her best intentions, Tenten found herself blushing as her small hands moved across the muscles of his torso. So toned, smooth…so…

Before she could allow her mind to wander, Tenten pulled her hands back. "Th-there was a—a wound there before. But there…isn't one a-anymore." She mumbled, stuttering a few words. The thoughts in her head made her dizzy. The sudden return of Sasuke into Tenten's life brought back all the former feelings she had harbored for him.

"You alright?" Sasuke asked.

Tenten looked at Sasuke and then at Neji. She was almost…insulted! that Neji hadn't asked her if she was okay first. Even if Sasuke's voice was void of emotion when he asked that, at least he had said something!

"I'm…I'm fine. Sasuke now that your injuries have somehow disappeared, you'll be carrying yourself." With that she darted off into the trees, the boys following dutifully.

In some dramatic and romantic parallel universe, Tenten thought, she would have fainted or something, and Neji or Sasuke would've had to carry her back to Konoha and care for her. She almost laughed when she thought of it. But in truth, she was a fighter, not a lover and certainly was no damsel in distress.

* * *

Because of her sudden overpowering determination to carry out their new mission of returning to Konoha as soon as possible, Neji, Tenten, and Sasuke reentered their village that same day.

"Ooo…there she is…_the girl_."

"—and they weren't even married!"

"What will the Hyuugas think? I mean—"

"I don't get it. Why **_her_**?"

"I guess that she's pretty. I just always assumed that that Hyuuga boy would want someone as _'beautiful'_ as him! Haha—"

Catty laughter and whispers of gossip followed Neji and Tenten.

'_Just a few more yards,' _Neji gave himself a mental pep talk, _'Just a few more yards until we're at Hokage-sama's office. Hold your head high…don't listen to them…and we'll get this mess cleaned up soon enough.'_

Tenten's thoughts, on the other hand, were much more violent and angry. She also made them verbal on a few occasions.

"What did you just say?! I think that you should say that to my face! I happen to be a very powerful kunoichi who is NOT at ALL pregnant, and is TOTALLY STRAIGHT!!!!!!" she screeched at a gossiping female shopkeeper who she had heard telling her friend that she thought Tenten was a lesbian, and that's why she went for Neji. (_"Ohoho, well the Hyuuga looks like a girl! No wonder that lesbian went after him! Now she's in quite a pickle with that baby."_)

"So, what is all this about you being pregnant?" Sasuke asked passively as the angry kunoichi walking next to him clenched her fists in anger.

"For…some reason…" Tenten fumed, "everyone one—including Hokage-sama!—thinks that I'm PREGNANT with—" she stopped herself. There was no reason that she had to reveal the alleged father.

Sasuke smirked at her, "Well _do tell_ who the supposed father of this child is?"

"…Me." Neji said plainly, stating the one part of the letter from Tsunade that he hadn't read aloud. There was no shame in his voice, only possessiveness as he almost pushed his way in between Tenten and Sasuke.

"I'm not really pregnant, so it doesn't matter!" Tenten said quickly, though too late, her face flushing red just at the thought.

"You should tell Tsunade that…" they had reached Tsunade's office and Sasuke held the door open and gestured for Tenten to enter. She blushed a bit and walked in, nodding gratefully at Sasuke, who made a point of stealing in front of Neji and entering right after her. Neji scowled at him, but did nothing seeing as the Hokage was now present.

"Tsunade-sama!" Tenten walked up to her desk pleadingly as soon as she entered the room, "I'm not at all pregnant. This is all just a silly rumor!"

The Hokage turned to the younger girl and laced her fingers together thoughtfully, "Are you? Truthfully? Nothing has happened between you and Hyuuga?"

"No!" Tenten exclaimed, "I mean…I haven't even been _kissed_ by anyone, so why would I be pregnant?" Neji's eyes darted to Sasuke when he heard him stifle a small laugh. He wondered if his lips had ever claimed hers.

Tenten threw a silencing glare at the Uchiha. It was necessary for her to sell her chastity to the Hokage, and his snickering wasn't making it any easier.

"Hyuuga?" Tsunade turned to Neji.

"…No. Nothing happened." He responded. Although now he wished that something _was _happening.

"Well then I apologize to both of you."

"Thank you Tsunade-sama." Neji and Tenten replied in unison.

"Does this mean we may continue with our original mission?" Neji asked eagerly.

Tsunade looked hesitant, "Well I believe that Shikamaru's team has already gotten rid of their target. There's still out there so…I'm just going to have them carry out your part of the mission."

Tenten hung her head when she heard this. She felt as if she had let down her village because of the rumor.

"Tsunade-same please allow us to finish our half of the mission! It wasn't our f—I mean, we would like to make up for our earlier mistakes." Neji didn't like the shamed look on Tenten's face, and he pleaded their case to the Hokage.

The Hokage took a small sip of sake. "Well…alright." Tenten rejoiced on the inside. Neji was just happy that he had managed to make her happy.

"But I want to wait a bit. We'll wait until Team Shikamaru returns to give us any useful information on Shiro. You leave a day after that. No earlier. Understood?"

"Yes." The trio bowed to their Hokage.

"Oh, and Sasuke." She said before they left.

"Hm?"

"Get some rest. From what Kakashi told me in the message he sent me, you went through Hell out there…even though you look fine…"

Sasuke smirked, "Yes Hokage-sama."

"…Neji?" Tenten asked timidly as they walked side by side out of the office building, "Thank you. For getting us the mission back."

"You're welcome." He said. Neji wasn't that humble; he had been expecting thanks from her, "I have a question for you though." While he said this, Neji nudged her into an empty hallway.

"Wh—Neji what is it?" Tenten was alarmed by his sudden action.

"Did you kiss Sasuke?"

* * *

**I don't think there is anything more fun to write than a common sense impaired Jealous Neji. I think that everyone was a bit ooc though . I'm sorry about the belatedness, although I HOPE that you can forgive me and still…**

**review…? I just might cry if you don't, haha.**

**I hope this chapter was as awesomelicious as I wanted it to be. D:**

**Mori**


	7. Romeo and Juliet

**Chapter Seven:: Romeo and Juliet **

* * *

**"**What did you just say?" Tenten was refusing to believe what she thought had just come out of Hyuuga Neji's mouth.

But he just turned away, slightly embarrassed, "Nothing. It was nothing."

But Tenten reached out and took hold of his muscular forearm, "No, you said something. Repeat it."

"Did you kiss him? That Uchiha?!" Neji looked her straight in the eyes. Tenten let go of his arm and stepped back, startled at the furious look on his face.

"Why are you asking that?" she demanded.

"You heard him in there! Scoffing and smirking." Neji looked disgusted; "He isn't the type of guy you should be…_associating_ with. He acts like he owns you!"

Hearing this, Tenten suddenly became furious herself. She charged up to the fuming Hyuuga and glared at him, her hands quivering with anger at her side, "You mean like you do?! How I can't do or say anything or talk to anyone that you don't approve of??!! Or without you questioning me?!"

"That's a lie." Neji said, turning his face away from her. He knew in his heart that it actually was true, but it wasn't like him to admit to anything like that.

The raging kunoichi reached out her hand and gripped part of the Hyuuga prodigy's prized hair and pulled it back sharply, forcing him to look at her, "Look at me and tell me that's not true."

In the whirlwind that his thoughts currently were, Neji knew that she was right and he was wrong. He couldn't lie to her face (which was now less than an inch from his), but he certainly wasn't going to admit that she was right! So he said nothing.

"That's what I thought." Tenten said sadly, dropping her hand to her side.

"Well you never answered _my_ question." Neji said disdainfully in spite of his best judgment.

Ooo, Hyuuga Neji was tempting fate today. He was _this _close to getting a face full of fist. But instead Tenten narrowed her eyes and smirked, "Yes. YES I DID kiss Uchiha Sasuke, and HE kissed ME. Are you happy now?" After she said it, she looked almost hurt.

"You loved him." Neji said quietly and certainly.

"Not anymore." She replied, equally quiet. Maybe she hadn't _loved_ Sasuke, but there most definitely had been something there. Her eyes were glued to the ground but as soon as she lifted them, she saw Neji walking off quickly.

"N-Neji? What the—Neji!" she screamed out after him, trying to get his attention to no avail. She cursed herself for making him so upset as to just storm away from her.

Men just had to be so confusing. Tenten had always thought that men were far more confusing that women. On minute they're all over you and the next minute they want nothing to do with you. Not to mention how Neji acted like he owned her and was possessive about being with any other man.

_'And we're not even…involved!'_ Tenten raged in her mind as she stomped down the streets of Konoha, _'It's like he's trying to protect my chastity or something? What the hell is that about?"_

"Hey Tenten!!" she heard Kiba yell out for her from the ramen shop, "Come have some ramen with us!"

"Yeah!" Ino chimed in, the other half of the 'us'. Tenten ignored both of them and started walking faster. She felt numb, dazed and confused. It was no surprise; she always had these feelings whenever she and Neji had an argument, except this time they stung more. In truth the pair had really only had three major verbal fights; one after they all became Chuunin, one after he and Lee left to be on a Jounin team, and the one just now which was…what? The fight after Sasuke returned to her life? The fight _about _Sasuke being in her life?

In an almost sleepwalking kind of state, Tenten had reached her apartment, entered it, and walked up to her bedroom where her bed beckoned to her. She obligingly fell down on it, resting her face on a cool pillow.

Neji had been her "secret crush" for so long now that it had evolved into real love. But loving the Hyuuga prodigy was like loving an inanimate object, Tenten had decided quite a while ago. She decided that he didn't love her back because he couldn't love her.

* * *

"Tenten…? Tenten, you better be in there and not out doing some stupid training thing! Shikamaru is finally back!! He came to see you! Oh and Naruto and Chouji are back too…but whatever. And I brought Kankurou, so if you don't get up and let us in, he'll break in the door!" Sabaku no Temari knocked fiercely on her best friend's door. Kankurou stood in tow, stretching his legs and preparing to kick down the poor, defenseless door.

"Temari…I have a key…" Shikamaru said, holding out the key and shaking his head.

The blonde sand-nin shook her head back at him, "You can't just go into a girl's house!"

"…and breaking the door down and then going in is better…?"

She grinned at him, "You know it!" Shikamaru could feel himself smiling in spite of himself.

And because she wouldn't put breaking in her door past the sand siblings, Tenten surrendered and trudged to her front door and opened it slowly. She knew that Temari was her best girlfriend NOW, but she would understand how she had once hated her with a passion and plotted a way to defeat her everyday. Once she did…they put their rivalry aside and found that they had more in common than they thought.

Shikamaru came in first, walking slowly with his hands in his pockets and his brows furrowed. A two-day long sandstorm had delayed him in his return to Konoha, as Temari said in a note that she left on Tenten's door two days after 'the fight'. Kankurou followed him and finally Temari, who engulfed an unsuspecting Tenten in a large bear hug.

"I usually don't hug people, but Kankurou said that as your best friend, I'm obligated to give you one right now." Kankurou didn't even deny it as he plopped himself down on her three-person couch.

"Tenten…" Shikamaru started, his eyebrows knitted together in a concerned countenance, "Temari tells me that you've been out on a training frenzy every day. You're no Naruto; you don't have the Kyuubi's endurance. You could really get hurt doing that."

"I know." Tenten said quietly. It was true that she had been out training alone every day since her fight with Neji. It was the only way she could burn up all her anger.

Her team leader shook his head, "I'm sorry but whatever has got you this flustered will have to be put aside. You and Neji are leaving on the mission soon."

When Shikamaru brought up the mission, Tenten groaned and buried her face in her hands.

"Great job Shika." Temari said sarcastically, "She's obviously dreading the mission."

"How do you know?" Kankurou asked stupidly, earning him a kick in the shin from his sister. "JEEZ!! Women…I'm gonna go sit outside with Gaara then."

Tenten's head lifted, "No, no, you should stay. And Gaara, please come in, I don't want to be rude!" She yelled out for him. Soon enough, Gaara's red head peeked around her door and he came in as she beckoned him.

"I hope that you're feeling better." He said politely, sitting down on the couch next to Kankurou.

She nodded back at him gratefully before turning to Shikamaru and sighing exasperatedly, "You're right. I should focus on the mission. What information about Shiro have you brought back?"

"Well not much truthfully." He replied casually, "But Tsunade-sama is giving you and Neji an extra day before you leave because both of you need to work on your genjutsu."

"Excuse me?"

"We've learned about a genjutsu technique that Shiro uses. I'll explain it in detail when we meet with Tsunade tomorrow."

"TEEEEEEEEENTEEEEEEEEEN-CHAAAAAAAN!!!!" an ear-splitting yell was heard, followed by the crack of Tenten's front door being kicked down. The door fell down to the ground to reveal Naruto and a very flustered looking Chouji behind him. No doubt the yell had come from the number one hyperactive knucklehead ninja.

He rushed to Tenten's side, "Tenten-chan, are you alright?! I can't believe that Hyuuga-asshole!!! First he gets you pregnant, and then he leaves you high and dry after just one little fight?! He's gonna get a face full of Rasengan, you trust me!" his fist was clenched in front of his face and his fierce blue eyes were fixed on Tenten's brown ones. The blond man quickly received a hit on the head from Temari.

"Owww…" he whined, "What was THAT for?" A large red bump began to appear on his head and he rubbed it uselessly.

"For being an idiot!" she screeched, "Tenten was never pregnant!! And what's this about them having a fight? Tsk, obviously another rumor." Temari dismissed the idea of Nejia nd Tenten fighting, so Tenten quickly decided that maybe she wasn't ready to know what really happened and why she was training so profusely.

_'And I don't think that **anyone** is ready to know what the fight was about…' _Neji was really the only 'outsider' who knew that something had happened between Tenten and Sasuke. The weapons mistress wasn't really eager to let more people know and risk the wrath of his fan club. She already had Neji's fan girls breathing down her neck.

Thinking about this obviously made her think about the fight itself, which made her furious and gave her the urge to either punch someone in the face (most likely Naruto because he was closest) or train. But neither of those options seemed applicable at the moment, so she was grateful when the doorbell rang and almost leaped up in the air when she went to answer the door.

When Tenten pulled back the door it revealed a small, pale girl with dark blond hair and bright blue eyes who looked around the age of six. She was holding a bouquet of pink roses that was almost as big as she was "Delivery from the Yamanaka Flower Shop for Tenten!" she squeaked.

"Inoue! Wow, the Yamanaka family really gets their children working at an early age, huh?" Tenten took the flowers from the small girl, "Where's your older sister today?"

"Well," the young girl had a high, clear voice, "these flowers are _from_ Ino, so she thought that it would be a little silly if she was the one who delivered them." Inoue giggled at the thought of it.

Tenten smiled at her in an almost sisterly way, "Well thank you for delivering them. And tell Ino that I said hi!"

"I will Tenten! Goodbye!" the little girl ran off smiling.

After she waved goodbye to Inoue and closed the door, Tenten read the small white card attached to the flowers.

_Tenten,_

_You looked really upset the other day. I (we…) hope that you're feeling better. I—fine, **we**—might come over later to see you, if that's all right._

_Love,_

_Ino (…and Kiba…)_

And under the neat handwriting of Ino, there was a short sentence written in jagged, messy handwriting which was obviously Kiba's.

_p.s. the whole rumor thing was ino's fault so please don't be mad at me_

This made Tenten laugh. She wasn't mad at Ino, or Kiba, or whoever had really started the rumor because now her named had been cleared. Well, almost, anyway. There were still those who were so stubborn as to still believe it, and the other day when she made a brief pit stop at the market, some woman had placed her hand on Tenten's stomach and had asked what she was going to name the little Hyuuga. But she had shrugged it off.

"Who're those from?" Chouji asked as Tenten re-entered the room carrying the roses.

"Ino and Kiba." She said, smiling as she sat down on the couch in between Kankurou and a very uncomfortable looking Gaara.

Temari looked angry after Tenten replied, "OH! Those little…rumor starters!! I ready to bash their heads in when I heard what they had been saying about you!"

Kankurou let out a hearty laugh, "Man, I played the best trick on her. When I told her, I didn't tell her that it wasn't true. She FREAKED OUT. She really thought that you were pregnant." Tenten glared ungratefully at him; she didn't think that was so funny.

"Whaaaaat?!" he whined.

"That's hilarious!!. I wish that I could've been there." Naruto seemed to think it was funny. Maybe it was a guy thing.

Kankurou received a whack on the head from his older sister. She seemed to be in a 'whack-you-on-the-head' kind of mood today, "You fool, I never thought that it was true." Temari smirked, "**I** was the one playing the trick on **you**." she turned to Tenten and explained, "After he told me, I acted like I thought HE was the father." The blonde let out a loud snort of laughter.

Both Tenten and Kankurou looked over at her with red faces and sour expressions; neither one seemed to find this funny or entertaining. Naruto however couldn't stop his raucous laughter and was soon rolling around on the floor clutching his stomach. Even Shikamaru and Chouji were snickering. Gaara…wasn't. His expression was placid as usual.

"If you ask me," Shikamaru offered lazily, "Tenten and Kankurou together is more believable than what everyone was saying about Tenten and _Neji_. I really can't see the Hyuuga loving anyone but himself."

His honesty was startling, and any other time Tenten would've punched him in the face and said something about him just not knowing Neji well enough, but now she just nodded her head solemnly.

"All Neji does is train to try and overcome the main branch, and when he isn't, he's ignoring everyone and _thinking _about training to overcome the main branch." She said, rolling her eyes.

Her response to Shikamaru's comment earned her strange peers from everyone in the room. Well except for Kankurou; he was too flustered to do anything but blush and glare at the floor.

"What?" she hadn't expected this.

"You're usually the first person to defend him." Gaara stated simply, standing up. He wasn't sure that he liked sitting so close to her, if anyone.

"Oh…" Tenten pondered this for a moment. She was slightly embarrassed that Gaara had been able to read her so well when they were barely knew each other.

"Yeah," Chouji agreed, "Normally you would've been all," he put on a high girly voice, imitating Tenten, 'You're just jealous because Neji is better than you' or 'He only _seems _cold and—'" Chouji stopped what he was saying, "Actually never mind, please don't hurt me." He shrunk back and hid behind Shikamaru. Tenten never ceased to strike fear into the boy's heart.

Oh, the honesty, the cold hard truth! Tenten could hardly bear all these realizations in one day. Chouji was right to hide behind his friend; she was ready to punch that boy in the mouth. After all, his impression of her was **horrible**.

But instead she sunk deeper into the couch, "Am I really like that?"

"No! Of course not!" Temari chuckled nervously, "Your voice isn't as bad as he made it sound…"

"You are a little bit." Kankurou grunted.

"You're kind of obsessed with him." Naruto nodded.

Only then did Tenten regain her fighting spirit. She jumped up and gave the loud blond a smart smack across the face, "Well…if I ever was, then I'm not anymore! That narcissistic, asexual jerk doesn't care about anyone but himself, and from now on I'm only going to deal with him when I absolutely have to!! Which will probably be tomorrow…but whatever!" she finished her rant by giving Naruto another punch in the face. Poor guy.

"Yeah that's right!!!" Temari yelled with her, "We're independent women!! We don't need any men!" Shikamaru grunted. His girlfriend looked back at him and grinned sweetly, "Except for you Shika."

With her ourburst, Tenten had surprised even herself but she knew that it was the best solution to her current situation. If Neji was going to continue being an angry, possessive, and generally unkind and apathetic person, then she wasn't going to bother dealing with him at all.

Once upon a time, when Neji was in his early days of being a Jounin, he had cared about her and watched out for her. But four long years as one of Konoha's elite ninjas had hardened him. Now he cared more about himself, apparently.

Tenten's speech of independence seemed to cheer up Kankurou, and he lept up from the couch and grinned, "Yeah, now I can come within three yards of you without the Hyuuga glaring at me!" he grinned at her, almost suggestively, and jokingly.

"You touch me and I will kill you fat kid." She said seriously.

"It's muscle!!" he yelled back, his hands balling into fists.

"Suuuuure." Tenten smirked at him, her playfulness restored.

"Well," Shikamaru rose and stuck his hands in his pockets, "I've got a few mission reports to fill out and I don't want to impose. I'll see you tomorrow then." He waved goodbye and then made his exit.

With Shikamaru gone, Temari's spirits were dampened a bit. So it wasn't long before all three of the sand siblings left as well.

"Hey!" Naruto, Chouji, and Tenten were all that were left, "Do you guys want to go down to Ichiraku Ramen with me?" I bet you can guess who said that.

"Sure." Chouji nodded, "Tenten?" he asked.

She pondered this for a moment before declining their offer, "No thanks."

"Oh okay, see you later Tenten!" Naruto and Chouji said their goodbyes and they too walked out of her apartment.

"Oh, hey Hinata." She heard Naruto say before he ran off with Chouji to get his beloved ramen. And when Tenten looked outside, Hinata was indeed there, sitting on a bench outside of Tenten's door.

"Hinata! You should've come in!" Tenten greeted her.

All she got from the Hyuuga girl was a sad face; "…Did you really mean that?" she asked after a bit.

Tenten was confused at her question, "Well yeah, I don't want you just sitting out there."

"N-no…" Hinata stuttered, "What you said earlier…"

The older kunoichi suddenly realized what Hinata was talking about. The door was still knocked down, and if she had been sitting out here for long enough, she would've heard quite a bit of what Tenten had said…

"…about Neji-nii-san…"

Tenten looked down. She had meant it, but Neji _was_ Hinata cousin, and she might not understand.

"I do understand." Hinata stated before Tenten could say anything. Well there goes that hypothesis, "But…Neji-nii-san **does** care about you! He j-just has…a…_Hyuuga_ way of showing it."

"Say what?" Tenten questioned, "A _Hyuuga_ way?"

Hinata shrugged, "Hyuuga males don't typically show their feelings the way normal people do. They get angrier easily, and their a-always jealous o-or…well you know how Neji-nii-san can get."

Tenten sighed. You bet she knew how stubborn and jerk-faced, and asshole-ish Neji could get.

"I just don't know Hinata…" she said, "Maybe I don't need a Hyuuga male's affection." Hinata looked at her questioningly, "Okay…that sounded a bit weird, I'll rephrase that. I just don't think that I can handle his "way of showing feelings" anymore. I'm not as polite as you are, and I'm not as outspoken as Hanabi. So I just don't have the right attitude to deal with him anymore."

The younger girl sighed and looked up at Tenten with sorrowful eyes, "You may not realize it, but you have the _perfect_ attitude for dealing with him. He needs you." Then she stood up quickly and started to walk away, "B-but, I've kind of said t-too much. I-I'll talk to you later Tenten-san!" she ran off, looking very flustered.

Feeling very confused at the short conversation that had just taken place, Tentenheaded back into her apartment and laid in bed to try and clear her head. **(a/n:: LOL rhyming)** But one thought kept swirling around in her head.

_'Neji…needs me?' _

* * *

She must've fallen asleep, because the next time that she opened her eyes, it was pitch black all around her. The blaring red numbers on her digital clock greeted her eyes and read '12:00am'.

After letting her eyes adjust to the lack of light, Tenten thought that she heard a faint knocking noise.

"What the heck…" she searched around for the source of the noise, and soon enough, her eyes settled on her window. The soft tapping noise continued, so she made her way over to the window and opened it. She inhaled sharply when she saw who it was.

**(a/n:: I wanted to end it SO BAD right here, but I knew that you guys would get mad…so I didn't…)**

"Hey Tenten." The man outside her window said in his deep voice, a smirk on his lips.

"Sasuke." She breathed. **(a/n:: you thought it was Neji didn't you?! Hahahaha…sorry…)**

In one swift movement, Sasuke had placed his hand on her windowsill and propelled himself over it and into her room. Uninvited, but not unwanted. Tenten was feeling a bit paralyzed, and had no idea of what to say. Lucky for her, Sasuke spoke first.

"I heard you and Hyuuga fighting the other day." Okay…maybe not so lucky for her.

"Oh…yeah." She couldn't look at him.

"Why did you lie?" was all he asked.

It was true that she had lied. Tenten and Sasuke had never really kissed. She still retained her kissing virginity and her oh-so important chastity. Boy, Neji would be happy when he found out. _If_ he ever found out.

The kunoichi wasn't sure how to answer, "I…he…he was just making me so angry, you know? And I just wanted to get back at him…so I said what I knew would upset him."

"So you just used me to make him upset." Was that hurt on Sasuke's face and in his eyes? Tenten couldn't see well enough to be sure.

"No!" she shrieked, tired of fighting with the men in her life, "You heard the fight! I mean…he asked…! And I…I was wrong to do that. I'm sorry Sasuke."

He lay a hand on her shoulder almost lovingly, "Don't worry. Unlike Hyuuga, I know that you're just human and we make mistakes."

Tenten smirked, "So…is Neji not human?"

Her male companion returned her smirk, "Well he _thinks _that he's a god…" they both snickered a bit.

After a bit of awkward silence and the retraction of Sasuke's arm from Tenten's shoulder, the weapons mistress spoke, "…I'm really glad that you're okay Sasuke." She admitted.

He smiled, "Thanks. But now you sound a bit like Sakura."

Tenten laughed and punched him in the shoulder, "Shut up…"

They sat on Tenten's bed and talked for a bit about nothing in particular. Sasuke mentioned something about a new lead he had on his brother, and Tenten mentioned her new mission and how she and Neji had to take down Shiro now that Team Shikamaru had killed Katsuro. Just business.

Sasuke had an overpowering urge to ask about the other things that Neji had said.

_'You loved him.' _Neji had said.

Tenten's reply had confused Sasuke, _'Not anymore.'_

The Uchiha had wondered about that for the rest of that day and for the whole of the next day too, and to be honest, he was still pondering it. Had Tenten really loved him? If she had…why didn't she anymore? Maybe he was hurt that she didn't even love him like a brother, or as a friend.

'_Or did she just say all that to make Hyuuga mad…?' _he thought, remembering what she had said earlier.

"I should go…" Sasuke said around 2:00am.

"Okay." Tenten breathed, watching him give her a little wave goodbye and climbing swiftly out of her window. She felt a bit lonely after he left, but she wore a smile as she retreated to her bed.

'_Life without Neji is turning out to be not so bad. I guess that I really don't need him.'_ Was the thought that entered her mind before she took her hair down, laid in her bed, and prepared to re-enter Dreamland; her conversation with Hinata was utterly forgotten.

And just when she was drifting off to sleep…there was more knocking at her window. This time it was much louder and more deliberate.

"What the hell Sasuke?!" she said playfully as she swung open her window, "_Some_ people are trying to sleep here."

"AAAHHHGGG!" a male voice yelled out in pain, and Tenten registered that the window had hit someone, and that it wasn't Sasuke.

In the same movement that Sasuke had pulled, Tenten put her hand on the windowsill and jumped out onto the lawn, "I'm sorry!" she said, but she didn't approach the person. Just in case it as an enemy, she had grabbed a kunai and held it firmly in her hand.

"Damn it, what are those windows made out of lead?" the deep voice mused. Tenten sighed in slight relief that it wasn't an enemy and moderate frustration because it was obviously Neji.

"Sorry Neji…" she felt like climbing back in her window and ignoring him, but she was more polite than that. She leaned over him and held out her hand to help him up.

Neji looked up at her from his position of lying on the ground and suddenly felt a pain in his chest. Heartburn? No. But as her long hair fell on his face and tickled him, he felt the pain in his stomach as well. What the hell was this? He took her hand and let her help him up. But when his skin made contact with hers, a blush crept onto his face and his whole body felt very heated.

As soon as he was on his feet, Neji withdrew his hand. He was very flustered and very grateful that Tenten probably couldn't see it in their dark surroundings.

_'I came here for something…'_ Neji racked his brain for his reason for coming, but he was so confused at what he was feeling that he had forgotten.

"Um, Tenten…?" He said to get her attention, but she was nowhere to be found. When he looked at her window, it was closed. True to her earlier urge, Tenten had helped Neji up and then climbed back in her window and ignored him.

_'Damn woman…'_ Neji thought as he retreated home, feeling defeated and rather confused at what he was now feeling.

* * *

"WAKEY, WAKEY TENTEN-CHAAAN!!!" a very groggy Tenten opened her eyes in the morning to find a cheerful Ino leaning over her. She had a large grin on her face and a tray of waffles in her hands. Tenten smiled and then took the waffles from her gratefully and started wolfing them down.

"G'morning Ino!" she said between bites. She hadn't been eating much lately and was more than grateful for the breakfast in bed, "Thanks! What's the occasion?"

Ino clasped her hands behind her back and rocked back and forth with a sad look on her face, "Well…we just wanted to say sorry again for accidentally starting those rumors…"

"Haha, it's okay Ino. Um…_we_?" Tenten wondered if Ino had a mouse in her pocket.

"Hello Tenten!" Kiba's head popped out from around the corner, "Just cleaning up! I don't usually clean…but this isn't my house…"

"Shikamaru let us in." Ino explained.

Tenten smiled, "Oh I'm glad that you two are still talking." Ino nodded, "Wow…you and Kiba sure are inseparable lately, huh?"

Ino nodded again, but then she cringed, "He won't leave me _alone_!!!" she hissed, lowering her voice. As she said this another defenseless waffle was defeated by the mighty Tenten!

Tenten chewed and gulped before she answered, "Well…that's how dogs can be. Remember what Hinata-chan told us?"

"I know!!" Ino groaned. But then again, maybe she didn't _hate _having the Inuzuka around her…

Suddenly the blond girl clapped her hands together, "Oh yeah! Shikamaru-kun wanted me to tell you that you have a meeting down at Tsunade-sama's office in like…ten minutes!"

The brunette kunoichi leapt from her bed and reached for a fresh pair of clothes, "Well thanks for telling me **_now_**!!"

"Sorry Tenten-chan…" Ino said as she covered her eyes so that Tenten could change.

"It's alright," Tenten tied her headband around her forehead and ran out the door, "Thanks for the breakfast!!!" she yelled back.

"Aw damn." Kiba cursed, looking at the mess he and Ino had made in the kitchen when they made Tenten's breakfast, "Now I really DO have to clean up…"

* * *

"I'm so sorry that I'm late Tsunade-sama!!!" Tenten burst through the doors of Tsunade's office panting and took her place standing in between Neji and Shikamaru.

Tsunade nodded, "It's fine. Just don't make a habit of it. We have a lot to talk about. But first I have someone to introduce."

Her hand motioned to a man standing by her desk that Tenten hadn't noticed before. She judged that he was about twenty-one and was about 6' 7". He had dull, oval shaped, gray eyes and long blue-black hair, which covered half of his sharp-featured face; high cheekbones and a prominent nose. The only part of his headband that was visible was the star in the center, symbolizing that he was from Hoshigakure.

"This is Nagano Naoko…"

_'Nagano…?!' _Tenten realized that he had the same surname as Shiro and Katsuro.

"…the son of Nagano Shiro."

* * *

**So…yeah. I got this one out faster.**

**This chapter is kind of my favorite. I'm not really sure why.**

**Neji's attempt at being romantic FAILED. :P**

**Poor guy. **

**I gave Ino a little sister just because I wanted to. **

**Sorry for the OC. He's ugly so it doesn't matter. :P**

**If you review, Neji will be happy. (I will be too) **

**:D**

**-Mori **


	8. Kiss The Girl

**Chapter Eight:: Kiss The Girl **

**Sorry about the wait. My computer crashed and deleted everything I had written. D **

**But hooray for my new laptop. **

**Now I will be typing more than I really should be. **

**I've gone from Word '97 to Word '07. Oh yeah babyyyy. **

**Oh yeah, and I edited and pimped out all the former chapters. So this would be a good time to read them all over. **

**And maybe, I don't know, leave a review for any chapters you might not have reviewed before? **

**Cha. :D **

* * *

Dumbfounded and understandably confused, Tenten said the first thing that came to her mind;

"Huh?"

Neji was caught off guard by the appearance of this man as well, "Why are we being introduced to the son of our enemy?" he spat, glaring at the foreigner.

"Naoko-kun is indeed the son of Nagano Shiro," Tsunade said, disregarding Neji's rudeness, "But he has left his father and come to Konoha to help us defeat Shiro with his insider knowledge. He knows the strength of our enemy's attacks and undoubtedly will prove invaluable in your training." She looked at Neji and Tenten seriously.

"How do we know that you haven't been sent by your father to trick us?" Tenten asked accusingly, assessing the situation. **(a/n:: not unlike Dane Cook :D)**

"Or to feed us false information?" Neji questioned the man's credibility as well.

"You guys, just let him explain himself." Shikamaru silenced them.

"Thank you Shikamaru-kun," Naoko said, bowing at him formally, "Nagano Shiro is an old fool who is trying to please his dead brothers by hiding those records that really should belong to Konohagakure. I don't think of him as my father anymore. I've let him for good and I would sincerely like to help you." His voice had an overly theatrical tone and he looked at them seriously, dramatically, "All of you can put your absolute trust in me."

"You mean you just…betrayed your father like that? I'm not sure if I could believe that you would just leave your family behind, totally." Tenten looked at Naoko almost sadly. Somewhere she had learned that you should stand by your family no matter how wrong they are, but then again, the way of the shinobi was far different than that.

"Believe it." Shikamaru said gravely **(a/n:: that was an accident…I wasn't trying to make him sound like English Dub Naruto xx)**, "Naoko helped us kill Katsuro; his own uncle."

Neji and Tenten's heads snapped over to look at the tall man with questioning eyes, "This is true." Naoko nodded, "I do not think of those idiotic traitors as my family. I'm ashamed that they're part of my lineage." This speech sounded pre-rehearsed, but neither Tenten nor Neji could argue with the fact that he had assisted in killing his own uncle and therefore proved that he was completely loyal to Konoha's plight now.

"Alright." Neji nodded and reluctantly gave a portion of his precious trust to the man.

"Great." Tsunade said, reaching for a glass of sake that was on her desk as usual, "Now you should begin your training. Naoko, you know what technique to teach them." She threw him a wink and he nodded to her gravely, "And I've asked Haruno Sakura to help you for a bit. She's waiting at the training grounds."

Neji smirked when he heard that Sakura would be present. There was no doubt that the pink haired medic nin would be all over him and he was very pleased with the idea of making Tenten feel as jealous as he had been feeling in the past few days. But when he stole a glance at her, he saw that the brunette's face was relatively emotionless. She actually had a small smile on her lips.

_'What the hell?!'_ he thought fiercely, _'She used to get a jealous look on her face whenever I even said Sakura's name…now she doesn't even care.' _

Neji was feeling a bit crestfallen, but he kept the smirk on his face. And when Tenten looked discreetly over at him, that's what she saw.

_'What the hell?!'_ he thoughts were the same as Neji's, _'Ugh…of course he would be happy to see his wonderful Sakura…why do I even care?!'_ but she tried to disguise her disappointment at his reaction by keeping the smile on her face.

_'He just doesn't return my feelings…' _

_'She just doesn't return my feelings…' _

* * *

A smiling Haruno Sakura greeted the group as they made their way onto the training grounds. Her eyes lit up when she saw Neji.

"Good morning Neji!" she greeted him with a shy wave.

"Good morning to you too Sakura." Shikamaru said sarcastically with a smirk.

"Oh yeah, good morning Shikamaru, Tenten…Naoko." Sakura said through a forced smile. She was obviously already acquainted with the star nin.

**"Damn it Shikamaru!! I was trying to get Neji-san to notice me!! He didn't even say hello!!! Shannaro!!!" (a/n:: heh I'm pretty sure that's what it is.)** Inner Sakura raged violently, fists clenched.

Despite his obvious apprehension, Sakura sidled up right next to Neji and took a grip of his arm. As usual, there was no obvious emotion on his face, but Tenten could read him like a book and saw the frustration in his eyes. Just like Sasuke, he didn't enjoy being touched or embraced most of the time. _'Prodigies…'_

But the Hyuuga prodigy was very proud of the way he kept his cool. There was no angry blush on his face, and no scowl on his lips. And although he really had and almost overpowering to punch the Haruno in the face to get her off of him, he didn't even flinch because…

#1:: He doesn't like hitting girls unless they're the enemy. Well he did hit his cousin that one time…but that was the chuunin exams..! And,

#2:: He was still hoping that Tenten would get jealous.

But the latter of his reasons wasn't working out too well. When Shikamaru began to speak, Tenten focused all her attention on him.

"While we were searching for Katsuro, we found Shiro instead. The coordinates Tsunade-sama gave you two were very off…" Shikamaru went over his mission report, "We attempted to fight him and lost. Badly. Both Naruto and Chouji came out barely alive." Tenten gulped when she heard this. If a tactful genius, a highly skilled jounin, and a Hokage hopeful couldn't defeat this Shiro guy, then she and Neji were going to have a really hard time. She wondered if they could make it out of this mission alive.

"Both of them," he continued, "were injured by mass volleys of kunai, senbon, and shuriken that seemed to be following them. Each of them also seemed to have a, for lack of a better word, a _hole_ in their lower calf."

"Just like Sasuke!" Tenten blurted out.

"_What?!_" Sakura asked, looking at the brunette kunoichi with eyes like daggers.

Tenten explained, only slightly bothered by Sakura's reaction, "We ran into Sasuke-kun and Kakashi-sensei on our mission and we brought Sasuke back to Konoha because he was severally injured. I treated his wounds a bit, and he also had that hole in his leg…" she turned to Shikamaru seriously, "But then all the injuries just disappeared."

The Nara nodded, "Same here. Naruto and Chouji's injuries and wounds all just healed or disappeared before we got back to Konoha. I expected that from Naruto because of Kyuubi, but we didn't know why Chouji healed so quickly as well."

Sakura then took her place in front of the small group and Shikamaru retired gratefully, "Tsunade-sama and I examined Chouji and found an odd reminisce of Shiro's chakra," she started, "which we found out meant that he actually used a _genjutsu_ to attack Naruto and Chouji.

"In a way, it's similar a technique used by Uchiha Itachi." Sakura continued.

Tenten sighed, frustrated. The idea of really being killed was sounding more and more likely, much to her dismay. Itachi was a serious criminal and ninja, and so even a knock-off of one of his attacks was sure to be deadly or at least shaking. Dying didn't really sound too appealing, and even though she was willing to lay her life on the line for her country, Tenten was still a bit reluctant to do so. It made her feel guilty.

"What he does," Naoko began explaining, "is—"he was cut off by Sakura's loud, shrill scream.

"Um…sorry…" she said when she saw everyone staring at her peculiarly.

"The Hell was that??" Shikamaru asked.

"I kind of forgot that Nagano-san was there…and then he spoke…" Sakura looked embarrassed, "I'm kind of easily scared…"

"Jeez, so troublesome…" Shikamaru shook his head at her.

"I'm sorry Nagano-san." The medic nin said apologetically.

Naoko turned to her seriously, "It's really okay Sakura-san. I kind of have that effect on people. But I would really appreciate it if you didn't call me Nagano-san." Oh no, she had gotten him started, "As I said, I really don't think of Nagano shiro as my father, and don't want to carry on his name. I've actually been thinking about dropping my surname completely." Tenten's head shot up in his direction when she heard this. Score one for the surname-less team, yeah!

"No surname?" Sakura said, her eyes narrowing as she looked over at Tenten with a smirk, "How tacky." She breathed in a low voice, making sure that only the surname-less weapons mistress could hear her.

She regained her outer composure, but inside, Tenten was raging, 'That bitch!! I can't believe her! Oh, she's gonna get it…I'll find some way to get back at her…'

The impatient Naoko faked a cough and continued, "As I was saying…oh yes. The genjutsu that Shiro uses looks like he's sending real kunai, shuriken, and fuuma shuriken at you. They appear to be following you, and you can't outrun them. If you throw any type of weapon at them to deflect them, that weapon will become part of the genjutsu and follow you as well." Shikamaru gulped, remembering how many kunai he must have donated to the genjutsu unknowingly.

"A simple genjutsu release won't do the trick." Sakura said matter-of-factly.

"It's true." Shikamaru concurred.

"Sakura-san, I think that Tsunade-sama needs your help in her office." Naoko said suddenly.

The medic-nin put her hands on her hips, "What makes you think so?" she asked condescendingly.

"SAKURAAA!! I NEED YOUR HELP IN HERE!!" the group looked over to see the Godaime Hokage screeching and beckoning for Sakura.

'Took her long enough…' Naoko thought rudely. Neji looked at the man suspiciously.

"Oi, Tsunade!" Shikamaru yelled, not bothering to add and honorific, "Can I go?"

The blonde Hokage's brow twitched slightly at his blunt rudeness, but just shook her head yes. Shikamaru nodded back and headed off.

"Good luck Tenten." He said, nodding to her as well before he headed off, hands in his pockets.

And she would need that luck. Tenten knew that she was horrible at genjutsu, and had never identified a genjutsu attack quick enough to actually pull of a genjutsu release. This was the case for Neji as well, but he was a little (okay, a LOT) more reluctant to admit it, even to himself. To admit that would be to admit a weakness, and Neji didn't want anyone to find out about anymore of his weaknesses. He had to make up for the blind spot in his Byakugan.

"The hand signs for this type of release are almost the same." Naoko began the lesson, showing them the set of signs they would have to perform, "Be sure to be discreet when you do though, because if you aren't Shiro will be able to tell what you're trying to do, and he'll make sure to stop you."

Neji was moderately thankful for Naoko helping them out to defeat Shiro, but there was still a nagging voice in the back of his head telling him that something just wasn't right.

He could almost see Naoko roll his eyes before he continued his explanation, "After you make the hand signs, you have to concentrate your chakra to make a 'shell' around your body. Then it will appear as if you are still suffering from the 'injuries', but you will feel completely unharmed. From that moment on, any weapons from his genjutsu that hit you will appear to injure you, but you won't feel anything.

"Shiro isn't stupid though, so you would be wise to act as though you're in pain." He said, pointing at them seriously. Tenten got the impression that he liked bossing them around a little too much.

"Is that all?" Neji asked, scoffing. His brunette companion shot him a glare.

Naoko chuckled devilishly, making Neji and Tenten step back from him nervously.

"Do you know how much chakra this takes?" he asked them rhetorically, "You have to maintain the shell around your body, and still be able to perform your best as if you still had all your chakra."

Neji was beginning to realize just how hard this was going to be.

"Oh, and there's also a catch..."

* * *

With ever growing interest, he watched her. Her almost comically long ponytail was swaying in the slight breeze, the sun highlighting the platinum blonde strands. There was a light pink blush on her cheeks, a coy smile on her lips, and her baby blue eyes were wide and alert.

Shikamaru felt rather ridiculous, watching her like this, hiding in an alley in hopes of catching sight of her. She was with Inuzuka, of course, and for some reason he made Shikamaru feel awkward approaching Ino. So here he was. Peeking around the corner at her, not knowing exactly why he was doing something so troublesome.

And for some reason, today the Yamanaka girl was looking rather…angelic to him. The lazy Nara could almost imagine a pristine golden halo floating over her head and snow white angel wings sprouting from her slight back.

"Shikamaru, what the hell are you staring at?" then the façade faded, and an embarrassed Shikamaru was face-to-face with the devil; a very pissed Ino. "Were you spying on us?!" she accused.

"…troublesome woman…" Shikamaru muttered, unable to think of anything better to say. How had he gotten himself in this mess?

"You stalker!!' Ino fumed, happy to find a sufficient reason to be mad at her former teammate. She had been miffed with him ever since he and Temari had gotten together, but she didn't really want to divulge that information to anyone. Now Ino could take her anger out on him, and she doubted he would even suspect a thing about her, well, jealousy.

Shikamaru watched with horror as Ino's halo and wings were replaced with a pair of devil horns and a forked tail. She glared at him evilly.

"Chill out Ino," he said calmly, regaining his composure, "I was just standing here. I was GOING to see if I could join you…er, two for lunch…but I guess that I'm not really welcome…" Shikamaru was glad that he was smooth at lying. Running from her would be too troublesome.

Kiba looked on sourly, but Ino's expression changed instantly.

'Shika-kun wants to have lunch with me? Probably only because his beloved Temari-chan isn't here…but still…' Ino had a silent battle in her head, debating whether to kick Shikamaru's lazy ass and take out all her previous frustration about him and Temari, or to have lunch with him and nip the Shikamaru and Temari love flower in the bud. She went with the flower analogy, obviously.

"Sure Shikamaru-kun!" she chirped, motioning for him to walk back to ramen stand with her and then offering him a seat, "that would be great if you could have lunch with me, er, us."

And there she was, looking angelic again. Shikamaru could feel his stomach tying itself into oddly nervous knots. Disregarding Kiba's jealous and possessive glare, he took a seat next to the blonde woman, who smiled warmly at him. He smiled back, maybe just a little too widely.

And for some reason, he was damn glad that Temari wasn't there.

* * *

"You'd better be kidding me."

"I'm afraid that I'm not."

After finding out what the 'catch' was, Tenten decided that she would rather fight Shiro without using the genjutsu release.

Okay, so maybe she was a little happy. But this was not how she had always imagined her first kiss. Although she supposed that she was long overdue for it; being eighteen and all.

"Don't worry; I don't think this will count as your 'first kiss'." Naoko rolled his eyes, reading her worried mind, "Teenage girls…oi…"

Tenten scrunched up her nose at him. At least it was with Neji…

>> >

**(a/n:: iz u b confuzed?? flashbak 2 teh resku, lulz!!)**

_"What's the catch??" Neji asked impatiently; this guy was really getting on his nerves._

_"Well, as I said, this genjutsu release takes an immense amount of chakra…more chakra I'm sure than either one of you two posses…" Naoko looked down at them, in more than one sense._

_Tenten huffed at his impoliteness, and Neji glared at him unkindly, 'How **dare** he…' the Hyuuga prodigy thought angrily, clenching his fists._

_"Don't glare at me. I'll admit that from what Tsunade-sama has told me, you two seem like highly skilled Jounin, but this is a brand new release, never been used before in battle, and will naturally take more chakra than you can spare." Naoko explained, his hand almost on his hip. Tenten shrugged at Neji, but he was still looking angry._

_"If it's never been used in battle before," Neji spat smartly, "how do we know that what you're teaching us really works?"_

_Resisting the urge to strangle the ungrateful brat, Naoko just smirked at him, "Don't underestimate me. I may not be that much older than you, but I'm a hell of a lot more experienced. So shut up and pay attention."_

_Ordinarily, this would be when Tenten would get all up in Naoko's face and tell him not to talk to Neji like that._

_But she didn't._

_True to her earlier claim, she didn't stick up for her former teammate. Neji seemed to notice this and looked over at her, surprised. She didn't dare look in her eyes, but if she had, she would have seen a bit of subtle sadness._

_"Well, what's the catch?" Tenten asked monotonously, wanting to change the subject and get Neji's hurt glare off of her._

_"You'll have to share chakra."_

_"Is that it? The big catch?" Neji scoffed at the man._

_"Well do you know how you're going to share that chakra…?" the Hoshi-nin was smirking, taunting them, and enjoying it._

_Though punching the stupid man in the face seemed very appealing to Tenten right now, she convinced herself not to, "JUST SPIT IT OUT!" she yelled instead._

_"Kiss." Naoko leaned towards her, still smirking._

_Neji flinched visibly and turned a hateful glare at Naoko. He wanted to punch the star-nin in the face, but he waited to see what Tenten would do._

_Well **then** she punched him in the face._

_This pleased Neji, and he relaxed, smirking at Naoko, who had fallen over onto the cold, unforgiving ground from the force of Tenten's punch._

_The star nin got up calmly, wiping dirt off his pants and ignoring the fuming look that Tenten was still giving him._

_"Him," he said calmly, pointing to Neji, "I meant that you have to kiss, HIM." Naoko kept his calm monotone voice the whole time. Neji refused to let himself be impressed by the way this man kept his cool._

_"Say what?!" Tenten was still angry and scrunched her nose up at what the Hoshi nin said._

_Naoko was back in his 'let me explain everything to you' mode, "The only way for you two to share that much chakra, would be to kiss. I'm sure that both of you know how to do that…" he rolled his eyes again._

_"Oh…" Tenten let this sink in. She was usually the 'let me explain' person. Now…she wasn't._

_"WAIT, WHAT?!?!!!" both she screamed out after they realized exactly what Naoko was saying they had to do._

_"To share your chakra with the other person, you'll have to kiss them." Neji said quietly, "I guess it makes sense. Continue." He said to Naoko. Tenten looked at him, bewildered. How could he be so calm about this?! She was freaking out on the inside, not sure if she was happy about this situation, or upset. Even though she reasoned that it shouldn't be, her first kiss **was** something important to her. After all, she'd been waiting eighteen years for it! But it **was** Neji…which was the person she'd always imagined her first kiss would be with. _

_She slapped herself mentally when she remembered how much of a fan girl she used to be._

_"—and then you hold the 'kiss' or 'chakra sharing position' for five seconds." As Tenten faded back into reality she heard Naoko explaining the whole genjutsu release to Neji and, he thought, her._

_"Um…do you think you could repeat that whole thing?" Tenten said bashfully. _

_"Why?" Neji asked pointedly, "It's pretty simple."_

_Tenten sighed, "I kind of wasn't paying any attention at all." Well there was no point in lying was there? Neji would've been able to tell anyway._

_'Bt who cares what Neji thinks?' she thought, referring to the eye roll he'd given her after she said she hadn't been listening, 'I'll still get my kiss and then I can go back to ignoring him like I should be doing.' Okay, so maybe she was looking forward to this 'chakra sharing' a little bit more than she was letting on._

_"Are you ready?" Naoko stared Tenten down, smirking, asking his permission to begin._

_The weapons mistress stepped back, "Go ahead."_

_"Okay." The star-nin began, "This genjutsu is Shiro's main attack, so I suggest that right when you begin your fight with him, that you focus seventy percent of your chakra to your lips. Let him hit you with the attack once, and then begin the chakra release. You enter the chakra sharing position; the kiss, and quickly and discreetly make the hand signs I showed you earlier behind your back, then redirect your chakra to make the shell around your bodies and preserve the appearance of the injuries to fool Shiro._

_"And then you hold the 'kiss' or 'chakra sharing position' for five seconds." He repeated exactly the same sentence that Tenten had heard earlier. This man was a bit like a record; his explanations were so precise. "Afterwards you won't feel any more pain, and the wounds won't be able to become fatal. But remember, just normal seconds, not too long or too short, or you'll mess the release up, and you'll still be feeling pain."_

_"Won't having our visible chakra around our lips raise Shiro's suspicions?" Neji asked monotonously._

_"You're just learning the basics right now. I'll teach you how to disguise your chakra in later today. You'll be training for quite a while." Naoko responded in equal monotone._

_"Question." Tenten said, raising her hand like a school girl, "After the fight with Shiro, the injuries will remain and then disappear as they normally would, correct?"_

_"Correct." Shiro confirmed, "But the version that I'll be using on you today when you practice is a lot less intense than Nagano Shiro's skill level, so the appearance of your wounds will probably be gone by around twelve am." Tenten remembered how long it had taken for Sasuke's wounds to disappear, and shuddered when she thought about how truly powerful Shiro must be._

_"Well," Neji was even more quiet than usual. He felt a bit awkward, like he was living someone else's life; this type of thing never happened to him. "I guess we should…get started." Man, that sounded odd._

_"Pucker up."_

_>> > _

With most of his chakra focused in his lips, Neji imagined that he looked very comical. Tenten however, he decided, actually looked pretty adorable. The blue chakra she was transferring and focusing to her pouted lips made it look like she was wearing some sort of shimmery blue lip gloss. He couldn't believe what was running through his head.

He also decided that if he ever mustered up the guts to approach her with a gift (he still needed to give her the birthday gift he'd gotten her) he would have to buy her some real shimmery blue lip gloss.

Yes, once Hyuuga Neji set his sights on something, he got it. And right now, his sights were set on Tenten. He determined that once they were an official couple, they would laugh about this. It was no big deal. And they would be an official couple…someday.

Now they stood side by side, lips full of chakra. This wasn't exactly romantic. Naoko stood in front of them in the guise of a dangerous criminal.

"I'm going to attack you with a watered down version of the genjutsu. Don't try and escape from it for now. Right now you're just training for the release." Naoko tried to calm them. Well, he was trying to calm Tenten. Neji looked cool, calm, and collected as usual, and he also looked like he wasn't really paying attention. His female companion however was looked wrecked with nervousness. She didn't like the prospect of just letting herself get hurt. It seemed so...irrational. Even if this was just training.

Then Naoko began the genjutsu. His arms flailed around and formed obscure hand signs that neither of the teens in front of him recognized. His movements were wide and showy, like a sad stereotype of a ninja, Neji thought.

As if to punish him for thinking that, Naoko completed the genjutsu, and it appeared as though hundreds of kunai were flying towards them. They seemed to come from nowhere.

When Tenten saw them speeding towards her, she had a moment of sheer panic. But she didn't run. This was just training. If she couldn't get through this, how was she supposed to fight and beat Shiro?

Neji looked over at Tenten when he felt her hand brush against his. Without even realizing it, he guessed, she had reached out for his hand, for comfort. He took it willingly, his large hand enclosing her small, thin fingers. She seemed so delicate and fragile right then, but Neji knew better.

He also knew that getting his by a volley of kunai hurt like a mother. But both he and Tenten resisted their urge to scream out as they were hit by what would've been certain death. Tenten grimaced and could feel her whole body burning with pain. Blood trickled down her body like crimson sweat. She could take a hit, yeah, but not hundreds of them all at the same time.

"What are you waiting for?" she heard Naoko scold them loudly.

_'Exactly.'_ Tenten agreed silently, still wincing from the pain. What was she waiting for? For some reason, she felt that this applied to both this training, and her real life.

So she turned to Neji and kissed him full on the lips.

The Hyuuga prodigy hadn't been expecting that she would do this so suddenly, but he had enough sense to make the hand signs behind his back as Tenten was. Then the pair dutifully began counting as they refocused their chakra into cocooning themselves in a chakra shell.

_'1…'_

Neji noted that Tenten's lips were rather soft.

Tenten noted that there was a lot of power as Neji kissed her back. But she suspected that it was the chakra. Although she sort of hoped that it wasn't.

Well just because this might not be real, it didn't mean that they couldn't enjoy the kiss.

_'2…' _

He guessed that he should've closed his eyes, but Neji just couldn't help but keep them open and focused on Tenten's beautifully concentrated face. She was actually a lot prettier than anyone ever gave her credit for…

_'3…'_

_'I just HAD to wear the most uncomfortable shoes today…'_ Tenten thought as she stood on her tip-toes. It was the only way that she could reach Neji, him being so much taller than her.

_'4…'_

He had the urge to wrap his arms around her, but Neji knew he really shouldn't. Instead, he kept his arms hanging limply at his sides.

Tenten, however, took the initiative with her arms. She reached out and grabbed the front on Neji's shirt, pulling him down to make it easier for her to reach him.

_'That's more like it…'_ she thought, smiling into the kiss.

_'5…'_

The kiss ended as quickly as it had started.

Tenten pulled away quickly, a bit embarrassed. Neji wanted to linger on the kiss, but didn't.

One thing that they both noticed though, was that the pain was gone.

Well at least most of it was. They could still feel a dull ache around their imaginary wounds and injuries.

"First of all," Naoko said, making his way closer to them, "it's not proper etiquette to stare at a girl when you kiss her." He directed this at Neji, who had to suppress an embarrassed blush. Tenten didn't succeed in covering her bright red blush. She could believe that he'd just been staring at her the WHOLE TIME…

"Second of all," the Hoshi nin continued, "that was horrible. Do it once more."

* * *

'Do it once more' turned into 'do it eleven times more'.

She had kissed Neji a totally of twelve times that day, then. Each one less personal and colder than the one before.

Naoko taught them many different tactics they could use in tangent with the genjutsu release that he was sure could defeat his ex-father. Tenten had to admit that he was a relatively good teacher even if he did have a strange attitude, but that didn't mean that she had to like him one bit. And she really didn't.

He had let them leave late that night around eleven pm. Tenten's limbs ached dully, and her heartbeat thudded loudly in her head, which ached as well. She still had the appearance of kunai and shuriken wounds. She must have looked like a mess. She felt like one too. At least these wounds were supposed to be gone soon.

"You're leaving on your mission tomorrow! You'd better be ready!" Naoko yelled as Tenten and Neji exited the training grounds together.

"Jeez, who made him Hokage?" Tenten remarked to Neji conversationally. Then she remembered that she was supposed to be ignoring him and wished she had kept her mouth shut.

"Hn."

"Well, g'bye then." Tenten said, waving and making her way off quickly. She figured that he should be glad that she even said good bye at all.

"I'll walk you home." He said, keeping her pace and staying at her side.

_'Ugh, this jerk…'_ Tenten thought despairingly,_ 'How am I supposed to ignore him and forget about him if he insists on being around me?!'_

"You don't have to." She said with false kindness.

"It wasn't a suggestion." Neji replied coolly, making his female companion even angrier at him.

"You just can't take 'no' for an answer, can you?!" she asked, enraged. But when she stalled and turned to him he only held out a small package to her. She swiped it away from him, "What's this?" she asked, curious in spite of herself.

"A late birthday present." He smirked. Then with all the boldness he could gather, Neji leaned closer to the weapons mistress and slipped his right arm around her waist.

"Wha…?" Tenten's questioning was cut off when her lips collided with Neji's.

As if by instinct, she returned the kiss, deepening and intensifying it. Her earlier impression that Neji's kiss was powerful was confirmed; it really wasn't the chakra. Who knew?

They held the kiss for longer than any of the other meaningless ones they had shared earlier that day. When Neji licked her bottom lip, Tenten replied eagerly. The air around them grew hot.

When they pulled apart, Neji had a smirk on his face. A victorious smirk.

But instead of returning his smirk, or smiling like Neji had expected her to do, Tenten just gave him a cold, hard stare. They Hyuuga prodigy gulped, expecting her to lash out and slap him across the face at any moment. To him, she looked like a cobra ready to strike just then.

She didn't though.

With pure sadness written on her face, she just walked away, leaving him standing there alone.

* * *

**This chapter was a bitch to write and upload to FanFiction. Sorry if it was kind of half-assed. **

**Yeah, Lee still has the kitten. The nameless kitten will be making an appearance soon. **

**I promise that the next chapter will be totally amazing. Believe it. :D **

**I WANT 38 REVIEWS, SHANNARO!!! **

**Haha, just kidding. **

**I KNOW WHO YOU ARE, PEOPLE WHO PUT ME ON THEIR FAVORITES LIST BUT DON'T REVIEW. I'M WATCHING YOU. **

**xD **

**Mori, who has major writer's block. **


	9. Gai Sensei Junior

Miss Independent

**Chapter Nine:: Gai Sensei Junior **

**I'm really, really, really sorry about the late update. D:**

**Thanks to all who reviewed. :D**

**99 reviews!!! WOOT!!**

* * *

Karma was a bitch. A bitch she'd like to slap. 

_'But I've already slapped a bitch today…'_ thought Temari bitterly, a wry smile on her lips.

To escape her constantly bickering brothers and the cramped confined space of the sand sib's Konoha apartment for a bit, the sand kunoichi had paid for a night's stay in a nearby motel. True to its insanely cheap price, the room was pretty lackluster. The sickeningly Pepto-Bismol pink paint on the walls was chipping and the ratty brown carpet had a few curious stains on it that Temari would rather not find out the back story to. But who was complaining? It was either this, or dealing with Gaara's bitterness about having to pass on the title of Kazekage and Kankurou's obsessing over his dolls, er, puppets, and asking her continually, "Do you think that I'm really overweight??"

Without even bothering to look around the room anymore, Temari climbed onto the lone twin sized bed and sat there cross legged, glossing over the dramatic happenings of that day.

She had seen them; Shikamaru and Ino eating lunch together. That Kiba dog boy was there too, shooting jealous daggers at the lazy Nara, but Temari had only focused on the other two.

They were smiling and laughing and that Yamanaka girl kept flirting with him, unabashed. The sight made Temari's blood boil with anger and hurt.

_'And Shikamaru hadn't even done anything to stop her…'_ an angry voice in the back of the blonde's head spat, _'if anything, he flirted back!'_

Something inside her must've snapped, ('Probably my heartstrings…' she thought bitterly) because Temari abandoned all better judgment that her conscience was giving her, marched over to the ramen stand, tapped Ino calmly on the shoulder and when the Yamanaka turned around, she received a fierce smack across the face from the sand kunoichi that sent her tumbling off her stool, her platinum blonde hair falling pathetically after her.

And then Karma had made its appearance. When Temari turned away and stormed off wordlessly, her supposed 'boyfriend' Shikamaru had not followed. He hadn't called after her, or checked to see why she was so utterly pissed. Instead he made a beeline for the fallen Ino and comforted her.

Temari got the pleasure of striking someone she had grown to hate, and Ino got the pleasure of stealing Shikamaru right from under the sand nin's nose.

_'She's one clever bitch, I'll give her that.'_ Temari thought as she fell back on the small bed and put her hands behind her head.

With a defiant glint in her eyes that no one else could see, the sand kunoichi eventually decided that having a 'man' in her life wasn't really that necessary. She had been perfectly fine with her life before she even met Shikamaru.

_'And,'_ she gave herself the cold, hard truth, _'his life was just fine before I intruded on it…and he'll be just fine without me.'_

And in the back of her mind (the way, way back), Temari had known that one day when Ino had matured enough, Shikamaru would fall for his former teammate.

Tears wouldn't come, because a real kunoichi doesn't cry about anything. That was what Temari had always been taught. And she believed it.

Instead, she turned on her side and buried her face in one of the barely stuffed pillows the motel provided.

"Love sucks." She told it, "And I never should have even bothered with it."

* * *

Tenten had to ask herself a few serious questions. 

First of all, what time was it?

That was an easy one. Glancing sideways, she saw that the blaring red numbers on her digital clock read '3:00 am'.

Second of all, why the hell was she still awake?? Knowing that she had a mission coming up, Tenten really should've been getting as much sleep as she could, but the drowsiness and dreams never came. She was still lying sprawled out on her couch, her head cocked at an uncomfortable position.

Tenten moved on to a harder question.

Why was she so sad?

And more specifically, why was she so sad about…Neji?

It wasn't really hard for her to come up with an answer to that question; it was more of a reluctance to admit that she had let her former teammate invade her emotions so. Being a worthy kunoichi was important to her, and knowing that she had let boy troubles ever distract her was embarrassing. If there was one thing that she had always prided herself on, it was the fact that, while girls like Sakura and Ino were out obsessing over boys and their looks, Tenten had obsessed over weapons and her mastery of them.

_'I'm mad at Neji because…'_ she said in her mind, _'because I've changed so much for him. Because I have trained my ass off to be a worthy training partner for him, and I've trained my temper so I don't get mad as much because I know that annoys him. Because I've tried so hard to be perfect for not only myself, but to prove to him that I was strong._

_But he hasn't done anything for me…_

_He hasn't tried to change at all for me.'_

Just the fact that, outside of his training and fighting, Neji assumed that he could get anything he wanted without working for it.

Maybe it was a stupid selfish reason to be mad at someone, but Tenten didn't really care, she decided. She wasn't going to run into his arms like he expected. She wanted him to tell her he loved her…if he really did.

_'Tomorrow,'_ Tenten decided in her mind, not noticing that silent tears had started pouring down her cheeks, _'I'll tell him everything tomorrow. **Everything. **But if he doesn't say 'I love you', then it's all over. We can just be friends.'_ Only then did she shamefully acknowledge her tears. The weapons mistress had only ever cried when she was young, when she thought about her parents; victims of the Nine Tailed Fox's first appearance in Konoha.

A few strands of her long, un-tied hair fluttered in her face, but she felt too tired to sweep them away. She stayed staring aimlessly at her door like she was expecting a visitor. Tenten scoffed; the idea of someone coming to her apartment at this time was ridiculous.

But to her surprise, not even a few seconds after that thought entered her mind, there was the sound of rapt knocking on her door.

Despite her current lethargy, the brunette he jumped up immediately, ran across the room and opened the door tentatively.

"Tenten-chan!!!" a loud voice said, and before she could register who it was, the person launched themselves on her and engulfed Tenten in a large bear hug.

"Er…hello Lee!" Tenten squeaked when she had identified the person from the bowl haircut and blatantly green attire, "Wh-why are you here?? It's not even four o'clock!"

Lee released her from his grip and grinned widely at her, "Well I was about to go out for my morning jog of three hundred laps around Konoha, and then I heard Gai-Sensei Junior meowing at me, and I thought I should bring him back to you but now that I think—"

Tenten cut him off, "What what?! Who the heck is Gai-Sensei Junior??!!" she looked at him incredulously.

_H_er green clad former teammate looked back at her meekly, "Um, er…that's what I named your kitten…" Tenten must've looked upset, because Lee quickly began to apologize profusely, "I'm so, so, so, sorry Tenten-chan! But…he just wouldn't come to me and when Gai-sensei came over, whenever I said 'Gai-sensei' the kitten would walk over and I was like, 'oh well I might was well call him that and—"

Tenten cut him off once again by placing a hand on his shoulder, "It's fine Lee, really. If… if Gai-Sensei Junior likes it, then I'm fine with it. I'm just happy to that you didn't try dyeing him green or anything!" she laughed.

Looking guilty, Lee chuckled nervously, "Heh heh, of course not…" he would have to remind himself later to hide the green hair dye kit before Tenten ever came over to his house, "But I'm happy to see that he likes you."

Tenten looked down at Gai-Sensei Junior, who was rubbing against her ankle lovingly, "Why wouldn't he like me?"

"Well," Lee leaned in like he was sharing a secret as he talked, "I invited a few people over for…small get together…"

"You mean a party?" the weapons mistress interjected.

"Yes." He admitted. Although it was more likely that Lee had gotten tricked into having a party. Most likely by Naruto, "And the little guy would only come when I called him! He didn't go anywhere near Naruto, or Sakura, or Kankurou or Temari or even Hinata and Kiba!"

Looking down at the kitten, Tenten found herself puzzled, "Hmm…" she thought out loud, "Well maybe Gai-Sensei Junior only comes to people that I would trust with my life." Lee beamed at her, and the weapons mistress smiled back at him with a twinkle in her eyes, "Thanks for bringing him back Lee…even if it is a bit late…or early…" Tenten cringed when she remembered that she had a mission soon and that she hadn't slept a wink.

"No problem," Lee chirped and the he gestured to a plastic bag he had set down on a small table by her door, "I also brought some of his favorite food!"

The weapons mistress beamed back at him, "Aw, that's really great. Yeah, I can just put…a lot of food and water out for him before Neji and I leave for our mission."

"How are you and Neji doing…?" Lee asked suddenly. At first it seemed like an innocent question, but Tenten knew what he meant and flushed.

"W-we're…f-fine…" she stuttered out.

Placing a comforting arm around her shoulders, Lee said, "I know what you're feeling." He nodded.

Feeling sudden anger rising in her, a flustered Tenten tore herself away from her concerned an now surprised friend, "Oh yeah? You love someone and train hard so you can be strong and worthy for them, but they keep pushing you away or stringing you along? And they just expect you to fall into their arms whenever they feel like it, or when they feel it _convenient_ to love you back? And…and even tough you've changed so much for them, they haven't changed a lick for you?!" she exploded at him, not really thinking about what she was saying.

For a second Lee thought about Sakura and was tempted to answer yes to Tenten's questions and accusations, but he knew this would only anger her more so he looked sadly at her and answered, "…no."

Seeing the obvious hurt in Lee's eyes, Tenten immediately felt guilty. "I…I'm so sorry Lee. I've just been kind of…on-edge lately. I didn't mean to get angry with you." The brunette looked slightly hysterical, and Lee could already see the crystal tears clinging to her eyelashes warningly. He picked up the orange and white kitten that had previously been roaming around their shuffling feet and placed him in a complacent and now smiling Tenten's arms.

"I think you need some sleep. And then a big cup of coffee." He said to her before he waved goodbye and made his exit.

* * *

Tenten took Lee's advice. She surrendered to her bed and slept till noon. And when she woke up, she grabbed the largest mug she could find and filled it to the brim with freshly brewed coffee. She had just sat down on her couch when there was once again the sound of sharp knocking on her door. 

"Who, _noooow_?" she whined uselessly, crossing the room and pulling door back to reveal an upset looking Temari, who stormed into the apartment immediately and fell down on the couch and crossed her arms. Tenten followed obediently, sensing that something was seriously unnerving her, and didn't bother to close the door behind them.

"Guess what?!" Temari said sarcastically. Tenten didn't respond, knowing that she would get the full story anyway.

And she did. Tenten's best girl friend told her everything that had happened yesterday with her, Shikamaru and, (Temari shuddered when she said her name) _Ino_. Afterwards the Sand kunoichi clapped her hands together, "So that's it. You're going to have to give me your cat because I'm going to be a lonely old, loveless cat lady now."

"His name is Gai-Sensei Junior." Tenten said without thinking. When she got an odd look from Temari she added quietly, "Lee named him…"

"Oh okay…" the blonde peered at Tenten strangely.

The brunette changed the subject, "Temari, just because Shikamaru and you weren't meant to be doesn't mean that you're going to become a lonely old cat lady. You still have your career as a kunoichi, and maybe one day you'll find someone else that's perfect for you. And if you don't…who cares? Not everyone finds their true love." Tenten finished with a shrug.

"Well aren't you a little ray of sunshine." Temari muttered, "But I guess I agree with you. We didn't sign up for a dating service when we decided to be female ninja."

"Very true." Tenten agreed, finally taking a sip of her coffee.

"You're very lucky that you've found Neji." The blonde sand nin said slyly.

"Yeah...wait what?!" the weapons mistress hadn't really realized what Temari was saying.

Smirking, the other girl explained, "Well you said that not everyone finds their true love, but you have. It's Neji. I'm just sayin' s'all."

For a second, Tenten couldn't think of a response to this. She just sat there, her mouth opening and closing furiously. Finally;

"That is the cheesiest thing I have ever heard." Said Tenten definitely.

Temari let out a roar of laughter, "And _that_ was the worst retort I've ever heard. You just can't handle the fact that I've seen right through your innermost feelings." She smirked again.

With a joking smile on her face as well, Tenten responded over the top of her coffee mug, "Alas, yes. And it annoys the hell out of me. How _do_ you do it?"

Propping her feet up on Tenten's coffee table, Temari looked at her brunette best friend with mock seriousness, "They teach a class on annoyance in Suna, didn't you know that?"

"Ohh," Tenten nodded, "Is that why every time I meet a Sand shinobi I have the urge to punch them in the face??"

Temari laughed, "Probably." The pair continued chatting for a few more hours about things ranging from Shikamaru and Ino (Tenten politely listened to Temari's rant) to the expensive price of good weapons (then it was Temari's turn to sit and listen to Tenten rant about this), but the weapons mistress was just pleased that the focus of their conversations never turned back to her and Neji's relationship. Or maybe, the lack thereof.

Around three o'clock, when Temari had just announced that would have to leave, another figure appeared at Tenten's door, which still stood ajar.

"I assume that I can come in." a deep male voice said, gesturing to the open door. The blonde sand nin picked up a small pillow off of Tenten's couch and threw it at the newcomer.

"What's the password?" asked Temari, smirking. Tenten sighed. This was the Suna kunoichi's new way of dealing with anger; joking. The weapons mistress wouldn't be surprised if Temari told Shikamaru and Ino a knock-knock joke the next time she saw them together.

"Well _you're_ no weapons mistress." Sasuke said, smirking as well, referring to the pathetically thrown pillow. Tenten flushed with color when Temari cocked an eyebrow and looked between the new arrival and her best friend. "Let's see," Sasuke continued, "is the password 'Ino is a boyfriend stealing bitch'? I just happened to hear about what happened."

Temari looked back at Tenten, "He's a keeper." She joked before standing up and passing Sasuke in the door way, "I'll talk to you later!" and then she walked off waving.

_'Yeah, and she was just telling me that Neji is my one true love.'_ Tenten rolled her eyes and then offered a seat next to her on the couch to Sasuke, who sat down and smiled at her. "So, to what do I owe the _honor_ of your visit?" she said to him, smirking.

"I was in the neighborhood." He replied casually, "I thought that I'd see you before you and the asshole go on your mission."

Tenten stifled a laugh, "I'll let that slide." She told him. Why did she always seem to forget all her earlier troubles when she was around Sasuke?

Unluckily for her though, her troubles didn't forget her. Right when she began to lean in towards Sasuke, her phone rang. Cursing, she got up and answered it after the second ring.

"What?" she said into the speaker rudely.

**_"You and Neji leave tonight at five o'clock sharp."_** Tenten immediately recognized the lazy drawl on the other end as her Jounin team captain.

"Got it." She replied officially.

**_"Has…er…this is so troublesome…has Tema—" _**

The weapons mistress cut Shikamaru off, "Yes Temari came over this morning and gave me the whole story."

She heard the Nara sigh deeply, **_"Just remember that I'm still your team leader." _**

"Don't worry, I don't hate you." Said Tenten casually.

On the other end of the line, Shikamaru exhaled sharply, showing his appreciation and then moved on to another subject, **_"I sent Neji over to your house." _**

"Let me rephrase that." the weapons mistress replied furiously, "I don't hate you _yet_."

**_"He should be over in a few minutes. You two can prepare for the mission together and then leave at the appropriate time. Plus I also accidentally, er, saw you two last night when you left your training. And…you guys might need to talk."_** The lazy Nara continued quickly, eager to end the phone call and get away from Tenten's wrath.

"What?! You _SAW_ that??!!!" she shrieked. _'I'm not ready to see Neji yet!'_ the kunoichi put one hand to her head, which was filling with angry thoughts, _'I can't believe that he saw us…kiss last night!'_ her face flushed bright red when she thought about this.

**_"Yes…that's all so 'bye!"_** Shikamaru hung up before Tenten could say anything else.

"NARA SHIKAMARU, YOU BASTARD!!!" she yelled into the phone speaker, not caring that her team leader had already hung up. She too hung the phone back up and turned, red faced, to see Sasuke eyeing her with mild interest.

"Shikamaru dumped Temari for Ino." Tenten said quickly, not wanting to give the real reason she was so flustered. _'This is really bad…'_ she whined in her head, _'Neji can't be coming over here when Sasuke is already here!!" _

"Hn." Sasuke nodded and then said something that made Tenten look at him curiously, "Shikamaru and Temari weren't a good match anyway." The weapons mistress didn't have time to figure out what this really meant, because she heard the footsteps of someone approaching her house. Sure enough it was one Hyuuga Neji, who appeared at her open door, eyeing the blushing Tenten and the embarrassed-looking Uchiha. He seemed impassive, but still glared daggers at Sasuke.

"Er...sit down." Tenten offered Neji a seat before he could say anything.

"I've decided that we should spar a bit before we leave." The Hyuuga ignored her request and turned to make a quick exit, "Come on."

The weapons mistress gave him an annoyed look, "Just…wait, okay?" she saw Neji lean against her doorframe as she made her way over to a now standing Sasuke. "I'm sorry." She said shaking her head and looking down at the floor, where she saw Gai-Sensei Junior circling the Uchiha's feet contentedly.

"It's all right," said Sasuke, shrugging down at her. "I'll see you after the mission then. …Good luck." He added the last part as an afterthought.

"Thanks…" Tenten said quietly, slightly surprised, as she watched Sasuke walk out of her apartment door, making sure to 'accidentally' bump into Neji and sending him a glare. Gai-Sensei Junior followed him until they reached the Hyuuga, and he promptly began nuzzling Neji's boot's lovingly. The weapons mistress looked down at the kitten once again and blushed when she remembered what she had told Lee earlier.

_"Well maybe Gai-Sensei Junior only comes to people that I would trust with my life." _

She gave the small cat an unappreciative look. "You're not making this any easier for me." Tenten hissed down at him.

"Excuse me?" said Neji, looking down at her with an incredulous look, thinking that the statement was directed at him.

Not wanting to look like ridiculous by telling him that she was talking to her cat, so Tenten looked back at him, "Er…that was a bit rude." She said.

Neji's impassive attitude continued. "That Uchiha doesn't warrant my manners. I suppose that I don't have to ask what you two were doing." he said, raising one eyebrow before turning to leave for the training ground. It went unspoken that he expected Tenten to follow.

For a moment, Tenten just stood there, her mouth hanging agape in a disbelieving 'o'. She thought, for a fleeting moment, about not following him and ignoring him until the mission actually began.

The brunette kunoichi knew, though, that holding a grudge against Neji was relatively impossible for her. Tenten had only ignored his wishes a few times in her past and it had taken a lot of will power.

But Tenten also knew that she would need all the will power she had to confront the Hyuuga prodigy before their mission and tell him the truth. Everything from the truth about her and Sasuke to the reason she had been so sad.

And maybe, the weapons mistress mused slightly as she pulled her long hair into a high ponytail and slung her sole scroll and backpack over her shoulder, she might just slip in how she was crazy in love with him. Maybe.

* * *

Sparring with Neji had gone how it usually did go; Tenten lost and Neji won. The Hyuuga prodigy had an almost full proof way of blocking all of her long range weapon attacks, and the brunette kunoichi wasn't fool enough to even try and close range attacks on someone who had mastered the gentle fist style. 

Neji knew that they had agreed to hold back a bit, to preserve energy for the mission, but he couldn't help but feel that maybe Tenten was holding back a bit more than was necessary. What he didn't know was that she was trying to end the match quickly so she could clear the air before they set off.

She waited for the perfect moment, waiting until they had sat down on a bench the shade of large tree. Tenten handed him a water bottle and took a large swig of her own as they counted their inventory of weapons and soldier pills.

"Er…Ne—"the weapons mistress didn't even have time to finish saying the Hyuuga's name before she was cut off by a loud, "Hey!" Turning with a face full of rage to see who had cut off her perfectly practiced speech, the sight of a familiar tall, lazy Nara greeted her.

When he reached them, Shikamaru crouched down to their level. Tenten's posture stayed the same, but Neji straightened up immediately. "I was passing by. Thought that I'd wish you two some luck. And…" Nara Shikamaru looked highly amused suddenly, "I overheard Tsunade and Naoko talking just now and…heh, how was that training?" he grinned in an almost un-Shikamaru like manner, unsure of how to ask them what he wanted to.

"Yes, the training dictated Chakra sharing 'kisses'." Neji rolled his eyes, reading the Nara's mind. Tenten nodded furiously at this, blushing ten different shades of red.

This was the part when Shikamaru smirked down at the couple. Neji straightened his spine a few more notches, not really liking the knowing look on the other Jounin's face.

"Well…" the Nara genius seemed to debate with himself inside his head before finally saying, "You two aren't very skilled at genjutsu."

"What?!" growled Neji, standing up and clenching his fists.

Looking nervous and a bit guilty, Tenten scratched the back of her head timidly. "Well, we got the technique by the end of our training." It took two odd glances from the two brunette geniuses beside her for her to realize just how wrong that had sounded. "I give up…" she muttered sourly, crossing her arms.

"Because," Shikamaru explained to the an exasperated Tenten and an aggravated Neji, "if you knew anything about advanced genjutsu releases, you would know that chakra can be shared by doing something as simple as just touching the other person's arm."

Mouths gaping and minds racing, Tenten and the Hyuuga genius tried to understand what the infamously lazy genius in front of them was saying.

"That…that technique was specifically requested by Tsunade." croaked Neji, who gulped. "I remember her telling Naoko to 'use that technique' or something to that effect…"

Smirking once again, the Nara genius continued, "They did that on purpose. You do realize that Tsunade-sama is just trying to get you two together, right? And Naoko was all too happy to help to prove that he was really on our side." Ignoring the disbelieving looks that Tenten and Neji were giving him, Shikamaru finished his explanation, "It's no secret that when the Hokage finds two highly skilled ninjas that appear to get along, she has a habit of trying to get them to get together in the prospect that they'll reproduce more highly skilled ninjas. She kept dropping hints to Ino and I as well earlier this year." He ended by muttering something that sounded like, "Except she turned out to be right in pushing us together…troublesome…"

Flushing bright red and wagging her finger at her team captain, Tenten tried desperately to defend her idol. "Tsunade-sama…would never do anything that…that…" she saw that she was failing, and that it was highly plausible that the Hokage would do something like that.

"Well then we'll just have to make the appropriate changes to our genjutsu release." Said Neji calmly, not bothering to even look at the knowing look the Nara genius was giving him. Their female companion stayed silent, feeling her earlier confidence dwindling as she nodded solemnly.

Shrugging, Shikamaru stood, matching Neji's height. "Still," he said, shaking his head slightly, "I'm starting to think that she might be right in matching you two together." He said dully before stalking off.

Tenten gaped after him, blushing. _'Why all the sudden does everyone decide to intrude on my pretty much nonexistent love life? Even Hokage-sama?!'_ she thought desperately, purposely keeping her dark brown eyes from making contact with Neji's pearly orbs.

Unfortunately for her, he didn't exactly have the same thought. He met her eyes with an unreadable expression before saying; "It appears that everyone thinks that we're meant to be."

_'Did he really just say what I think he said?!'_ thought Tenten disbelievingly. "_Eh?!_" she squeaked meekly.

"Recently, many people have been talking about us being together." Neji replied, shrugging. Then he turned away, and the weapons mistress could've sworn she saw him smirk.

Flushing bright pink, Tenten merely nodded, recalling what Temari had said to her earlier. "Er…it's a little early…but we should just…head out now." She suggested in a voice a little higher than normal.

"Hn." Both shinobi darted off into the dark forest.

* * *

The long trip was silent. Tenten kept her mouth shut and focused all her frustrated energy on completing the mission. Neji said nothing because he really didn't trust himself. His boundaries of focus and straight forward thinking were being tested. 

Traveling to Hoshigakure itself took much longer than anticipated. It had been a day and a half already. After quietly insisting that they make camp and start a fire and getting the okay from Neji, Tenten had picked a spot thick with trees. The extremely cramped clearing was only big enough for the two of them and a fire. After watching the flickering flames in silence, the weapons mistress wordlessly passed Neji a soldier pill from their small commissariat. They ate their meager meal in more silence.

From out of nowhere, while recalling what Neji had said to her earlier, Tenten mustered up a bit of courage and spoke quietly. "So…um." The weapons mistress struggled to remember the small speech she had prepared for earlier before she was interrupted by Shikamaru.

"Yes?" for some reason, Neji looked a bit amused when he answered.

"IneverreallykissedSasuke." Tenten said quickly, pushing her loaded words together as she tried to get it all out in one breath.

Feeling the need to tease her a bit, they Hyuuga prodigy sitting across from her cocked his eyebrow. "Hm?"

Sighing and tossing Neji a slightly irritated look, Tenten repeated what she had said, painfully slowly. "I…never…_really_…kissed…Sasuke." Her teeth were gritted.

"How can you not '_really_' kiss someone?" Neji spat, sounding much harsher and more interested than he would've liked to.

"Well let me finished!" the brunette kunoichi threw back, pinning him with a harsh, yet pleading gaze. "It was…it was right after a mission…" Tenten wrung her hands, "…and it was just dark, and we were just really happy the mission was a success, and…and we, er, were _about_ to, but then…then Gai-sensei showed up and said something about the 'youthfulness of love' and 'oh, I thought that young man was Neji!' so the moment was pretty much ruined." Burying her face in her hands, the weapons mistress groaned, "And…that was waaaaaaay too much information I just gave you."

Neji silently agreed, but said nothing, trying to digest what he had just been told. The fact that Gai had assumed that it would've been him that Tenten was kissing was oddly comforting to Neji, but he tried not to let it show. "So…the 'moment' was ruined because Gai-sensei mentioned me? I just seem to intrude on all your love affairs, even indirectly." The Hyuuga smirked and made a sly comment, hoping to keep an impassive, cool air about him.

"Hyuuga Neji, don't think so highly of your ability to trample into my love life." Tenten huffed, and smirked inwardly when she saw Neji's face fall into an inquisitive frown. Both of them seemed to realize that the Hyuuga prodigy had hit the nail on the head with his last statement.

There were so many words left unsaid around the pair. Tenten was hardly the romantic, and for Neji to actually have any type of love for another human being always baffled people in itself. Neither of them was prepared to actually admit that they had more than just friendly feelings for each other, even if everyone could see it. They Hyuuga prodigy was more than aware of his recent realizations about his real affection for his former teammate; each of these thoughts were filed neatly in his mind. But the weapons mistress' thoughts and feelings were still sprawled wantonly around in her head and Tenten was still more than confused about why she had gotten mad at him, and if she really was. Maybe she was just feeling mood swing-y. Girls get like that, right?

The silence surrounding Neji and Tenten's makeshift camp was broken when a kunai whizzed past Tenten's ear and landed with the sickening sound of metal stabbing flesh, into a bush behind her.

"What the—?" the weapons mistress looked from the plant to the thrower, her partner.

"Obviously a spy for Shiro." Said Neji sternly, standing up and walking to the bush behind Tenten quickly, pushing back leaves to reveal the body of one of Nagano Shiro's lackeys, the kunai lodged directly in his throat.

Tenten winced as she watched the victim's broad chest rise and fall in increasingly longer intervals; he was tottering between life and death. She also duly noted the Nagano family crest embezzled proudly on the vest he wore.

"That's definitely not Shiro." She stated as she moved away to start stamping out the fire, "That man doesn't match the descriptions we have of him."

"No." Neji agreed as they were engulfed by darkness, "But this means that Shiro knows we're near. We need to make it to Hoshi. Now." The Hyuuga genius didn't wait for an affirmative reply, but darted off towards their destination immediately. And obediently, Tenten followed.

The trip took less than two hours. Sighing with relief, Tenten took in the familiar scene of the forest that led up to the Hidden Star village.

"Wait." She heard Neji say. He was much farther than she was, and the weapons mistress could hardly see him. Still, she headed his request and halted, leaning against a nearby tree and catching her breath.

"What...what happened here?" from up ahead, Tenten heard Neji mutter.

"Neji?" called her, feeling her curiosity stirring. When he didn't answer, Tenten surrendered to her impulses and rushed ahead, bursting out of the thick of the forest and then stopping abruptly at the horrid scene that met her eyes.

* * *

**Wow, I'm especially cruel today. **

**I really want to say that I'll have the next chapter out soon, but…I'm back in school, and I've also got French lessons, theory lessons, and chorus is starting up again soon. **

**So…I beg for your patience. D:**

**And your reviews. Those are excellent motivators. xD **

**Why did I name the chapter after the cat? **

**Because I couldn't think of a better title. -shot-**

**Ahhh, **

**Mori. **


	10. Love Letter

**Miss Independent**

**Chapter Ten::**** Love Letter**

**PLEASE DON'T HATE ME PLEASE DON'T HATE ME PLEASE DON'T HATE ME PLEASE DON'T HATE ME**** PLEASE DON'T HATE ME PLEASE DON'T HATE ME!!!!**

**gets down on knees and pleads shamelessly**

**Please don't hate me for taking so ridiculously long on this chapter.**** I don't even know why it took me so long. Writer's block combined with the evil that is school.**

**Oh and everyone was all worried about Neji ("OMG I hope Neji is alive!!" etc.) but, he's fine. xD**

* * *

Hundreds of broken and blackened bodies lay before Tenten's horrified eyes. The harsh heat of a dying fire flared against her face, making her wince. She stepped back and dodged a few falling branches that had caught fire. Squinting, her dark brown orbs scanned the ravaged village; Hoshigakure had fallen. And not very gracefully. The ground was wet with blood and covered with the burnt remains of the buildings and homes of it's now brutally slaughtered citizens. There were just so many of them; hundreds of dead men, women, and children and even some arms and legs that weren't attached to any bodies littered the ground in a horrific and morbid scene.

What had happened here? And…and where was Neji?!

"Neji!!!!"

Tenten turned her head around wildly looking for her teammate. In that moment, she hoped with all her heart that he was okay.

Finally, her eyes rested on the familiar long haired figure of Hyuuga Neji. A great sigh of relief escaped her lips, and she started running towards him, careful to dodge the many debris on the ground.

"Wait!" Neji held out his palm to stop her from coming any closer. With a peculiar look on her face, Tenten humored his request and watched him lean over to inspect the dead body of a small girl.

Then in an instant, almost faster than Tenten could register, the seemingly lifeless girl twitched alive and soared at Neji, a kunai in each hand. The Hyuuga prodigy was caught a bit off guard, and only had time to throw his arms in front of his face in an 'x'. The girl's weapons still made contact though, and she drove one kunai into each of his forearms. Neji winced as his arms spurted blood onto the face of his attacker. Ripping his arms away from her, kunai still intact, he threw her around, kicking her down and shoving her face into the already blood soaked ground.

"Who the hell are you?!" Neji demanded, voice raspy, as Tenten ran to his side and he pulled back the girl's arms and pushed on her back with his foot in a Sasuke-esque move.

Throwing back her head to give him a hateful glare, the girl muttered something that sounded like, "Your worst nightmare."

_How cliché…_ Tenten thought impulsively, before she inspected Neji's attacker more thoroughly and realized that she was probably only six or seven years old. Those types of old sayings were probably the only intimidation tactics the girl knew.

While scoping the girl, the weapons mistress also noticed the Hoshi headband adorning her forehead. She was obviously a novice ninja, and thought that she and Neji were the ones responsible for destroying the village and coming back to finish her and any other survivors off (if there even were any…).

Feeling a surge of sympathy for the nameless girl, Tenten pushed Neji off of her and knelt down to her small stature.

Immediately, of course, the girl made a break for freedom, but she wasn't fast enough for two former members of Team Gai. Neji and Tenten each grabbed one of her arms and pulled her back, sitting her down on a nearby tree stump.

Wrenching the deeply lodged kunai out of his arms, Neji grunted in pain before turning to his attacker and pointing one of the knives at her. "In case you haven't noticed," he spat, "we're your allies!" he turned the kunai to point it at his Konoha headband.

Tenten nodded fervently, but the squalid little girl said nothing.

Then, after a long moment of silence; "I'm sorry."

"Damn right you should be sorry." Neji grunted, but was quickly shushed by Tenten.

"She's just a little girl!" the weapons mistress hissed into his ear.

The small girl piped up, "I…I just didn't see that you were from Konohagakure…I just wanted to protect what was left of my village." She hung her head shamefully and tugged at Tenten's heartstrings.

"It's okay, really." The brunette kunoichi cooed, ignoring Neji's pointed glare, "We know you didn't really mean to. What's your name?"

"S-Saori." The young Hoshi nin sniffled out.

"Well I'm Tenten, and this is Neji. We're on a mission, but we can stay and help you for a bit." The weapons mistress looked down at Saori kindly.

"No!" the little girl protested, alarming Tenten, "You need to help me find other survivors!" she wailed hysterically, standing up and whipping her head around in search of a body twitching with life, or a movement in the grave-like scene that lay before them.

Neji spoke with a stern voice. "There's no one else but you that survived."

"How do you know?!" Saori screeched, voice splintering with tears.

It was all Tenten could do to not reach out and hug this girl who had just experienced something just as horrific as Sasuke had. "We'll look anyway." She said sympathetically. Then, after a pointed look from her teammate, "But don't get your hopes too high."

But, much to Neji's surprise, as they waded through the pools of blood gathering at their feet, the trio did manage to find about fifteen men, women, and children who had survived the brutal attack. Neji and Tenten gingerly lifted up and carried each feeble person to a soft spot of grass near the middle of the ravaged village, Saori walking slowly and solemnly at their side.

And old man with graying hair and a benign smile of his face reached out to stop Neji from picking him up and carrying him out of the wreckage. "I'm ready for the next adventure." He said calmly before closing his eyelids slowly and drifting off to an eternal sleep.

"Saori…" Tenten noticed the small Hoshi kunoichi sitting alone on a piece of debris while Neji continued to carry survivors to the center of the village, "What about your family?"

"I'm an only child." She said casually, "But my parents are on a mission right now. Pretty lucky huh?" Saori smiled.

Tenten smiled back, feeling relieved that the girl didn't have to experience the loneliness of having no real family, as Sasuke had to.

Why was it that ever since they had reached Hoshigakure, or rather what was left of it, Tenten couldn't get the face of the youngest orphan Uchiha out of her mind? Maybe only now, when faced with a tragedy of equal proportion, did she vaguely understand the scope of what had happened to her raven-haired friend. Now she understood why he was so insistent on the fact that no one truly understood what he went through.

_At __least she__ still has her family._ Tenten thought while looking at the chattering girl.

"So do you?" she heard Saori say to her impatiently.

"Huh?" Tenten hadn't even been aware that the girl was asking her something. "Do I…what?"

The younger girl exhaled crossly. "I _said_; do you and your husband have any kids?"

Letting out a snort of surprise, Tenten peered at Saori pecularlily. "I don't…have a husband." she said slowly, "Where did you get that idea?"

"Ohhhh," Saori came to a realization, "I thought that that long haired guy and you were married." She shrugged and dragged her fingers aimlessly through a patch of dirt that was, thankfully, not stained with blood.

Tenten's eyes bugged out of her head disbelievingly. She chose not to say anything, mostly because she couldn't think of anything.

"Oops." She heard Saori mused amusedly. The weapons mistress sitting beside wondered bemusedly if the little girl had done that on purpose.

"Tenten." She heard a low male baritone from behind her, "Don't just sit there. Get your medic kit and come help me." Neji's voice was stern and demanding.

Sighing heavily and giving Saori a look, Tenten grabbed her kit and rising to walk next to her teammate.

"How long do you think we should stay here?" he asked her under his breath as they crouched down to take care of a middle-aged man's leg wound.

Tenten shook her head and exhaled sharply, "As long as it takes."

* * *

The sharp beam of sunlight flew in through her window and smacked her in the face. Temari grumbled and cracked open an eyelid. More of the blindingly bright sun greeted her.

_Well this sucks__…_ she thought grumpily, getting out of bed gradually and pulling her clothes on.

Temari stumbled out of her Konoha apartment, not even bothering to wake up Kankurou or check to see where Gaara was. Walking down the Leaf Village's streets, the sun betrayed more false happiness, and the blonde Sand kunoichi tried to decide what to do with her missionless day.

"What would Gaara do on a day like this?" Temari mumbled to herself. Unfortunately, she realized, Gaara would probably spend the day sulking, not talking to anyone, and wishing he were more like Naruto.

_Okay then…_ the blonde kunoichi thought _what would Naruto do?_

'WWND?' proved not to be much more effective. Temari decided that Naruto would most definitely head to Ichiraku Ramen and chomp down twenty plus bowls of deluxe ramen.

"Hey Temaaaaari!!" Speak of the devil…Naruto's shining face that was currently rivaling the sun in brilliance, beamed and waved at the blonde sand kunoichi, "Come join us!!" As predicted, he was sitting at the ramen stand with Sakura sulking next to him.

Temari tried to think of an excuse, but her tired mind failed her, so she walked over and took a seat next to the boisterous blond boy.

"One…plain ramen." Temari said lazily.

Naruto punched holes in the air, "I have to finish all these ramen bowls so I can start with my training for the day!!" He said, mostly to himself.

Temari smiled lightly and rolled her eyes. She noticed vaguely the motley crew that had assembled at Ichiraku. There was Kiba, leaning against the edge of the stand sulking, Naruto, of course, next to him, slurping up his ramen at an inhuman pace, Sakura, bubble gum haired and sour faced, sitting on his other side, and, the most surprising of all, a brooding Sasuke on her other side, leaning over a steaming bowl of pork ramen.

Sakura took a deep breath and exhaled heavily. "I wonder if Neji is okay on the mission." She said dreamily, dipping her pale pointer finger into her ramen bowl and twirling it around.

"Tenten too." Sasuke mused so quietly that Temari almost couldn't hear it. No one else seemed to notice though.

"I'm sure that both of our friends will return unharmed!!!!" a loud voice yelled out from behind them, making Temari shiver with surprise.

But she settled when she turned to see that it was only Konoha's Handsome Green Beast. Temari assumed that the 'handsome' part was open for interpretation. "Hello Lee." She said dully.

"Oh, I didn't see you there Temari!!" Lee greeted her warmly, "I'm happy to see that you're still in town."

Temari smiled a bit, "It seems that I always am lately."

"Hey Lee!!" Naruto half-shouted, "How's your training going?"

Temari noticed that the ramen girl had placed her ramen in front of her. Taking advantage of the fact that the two loudmouths were preoccupied with jabbering about training, Temari broke her chopsticks and began to slurp up her noodle in a very un-ladylike fashion.

And then a thought struck her. Was is just her, or did it seem that only single people who had been recently been rejected congregated here lately??

Kiba had been turned down by Ino, without her actually knowing of course. Naruto had been rejected by Sakura every day since they were at least thirteen years old, as had Lee. And Sakura had been rejected by Sasuke. On her birthday. In a note. Because he was oh-so smooth and sensitive like that. Plus there was the whole Neji ordeal. Temari supposed that Neji hadn't really gotten around to telling Sakura that he found her more annoying than a hangnail.

And she herself had been rejected by Shikamaru.

And Sasuke had…well Temari had always assumed that Sasuke was either extremely gay for Naruto or asexual. But lately he had been _extra_ friendly towards Tenten…

Temari stopped her train of thought in its track. Tenten and Sasuke? She almost snorted into her ramen at the ridiculousness of that thought.

So maybe not _everyone_ at Ichiraku's that day was sporting a broken heart.

"Sure thing Sasuke!!" Temari's train of thought halted once again when Lee's megaphone-like voice reverberated in her ears.

Temari's head whipped around so fast that she got whiplash. "Wait, what? What did I miss?" she asked, wincing a bit and rubbing the side of her neck.

Rolling his eyes and turning away, Sasuke made some lame, half-ass excuse about having to be somewhere and then shuffled away with his hands in his pockets.

Temari gave his back a pointed glare before turning back to Lee. "So what's the story??" she demanded.

Looking extremely proud with himself, Lee gave her a gleaming smile and held an envelope out in front of him, "Sasuke has entrusted me to deliver this letter to Tenten!" he exclaimed.

"Oh reaaally??" Temari has a mischievous glint her eyes as the peered curiously at the small envelope. Tenten's name was scrawled relatively neatly on the front. It seemed that sending mysterious letters to his infatuations was becoming Uchiha Sasuke's trademark.

"Do you, ummm…" the Sand nin tapped her pointer and middle fingers on the top of the folded paper, "Do you mind if I take a look at it??" When Lee gave her an uncertain look she redid her strategy. "I meeeeeean…" she gave him a sparkling smile, "Why don't I give that to Tenten when she gets back! I bet that a splendid ninja such as yourself has a lot of important stuff to do."

Well she had him at 'splendid'. With a flushing face, Lee mumbled out an "Oh, why thank you!" and surrendered the mysterious envelope without further argument.

Bidding farewell to her heartbroken companions, Temari jogged back to her apartment clutching the letter like her life depended on it.

"Hey!!!" the angry voice of the stand owner yelled out after her, "YOU DIDN'T PAY FOR YOUR RAMEN!!! Damn Suna shinobi…"

* * *

After healing the survivors and helping the remaining part of Hoshigakure back onto its wobbly feet, Tenten and Neji were faced with a pressing dilemma.

"What do we do now?" the weapons mistress said exasperatedly as she took a seat next to Neji on a soft spot of ground. "I know that we have a mission to complete, but…I feel so bad just leaving them." She ran her fingers through a small patch of grass contemplatively.

Her white-eyed companion had been wondering the same thing. "Well now all we can do now is ask everyone who survived about happened here. And while we're at it we can ask them if they know anything about exactly where Shiro is and what exactly he's up to with the Hoshigakure records." He stood up silently and walked away towards the Hoshigakure villagers without a word.

_Why didn't I think of that?_ Tenten thought with an eye roll as she reluctantly got up again and walked over to where Neji was already mercilessly interrogating a balding man with both of his legs heavily bandaged.

"Who attacked the village?" she heard her Hyuuga partner ask.

The Hoshigakure ninja shook his head, "I don't know their names…but I know that I'd seen them in the village before." His tone of voice grew deeper and sadder as he continued, "And I'm sorry to say that they were definitely Star Village shinobi."

Tenten caught her breath and turned to Neji, "What if—?"

"I know." The light-eyed shinobi cut her off. "It could've been Shiro." He said under his breath.

"Nagano?" the man they had been talking to had piped up and shook his head fervently, "No it wasn't that Nagano Shiro. He's not a threat to us anymore."

Turning their heads around quickly, Neji and Tenten stared at the man. The long haired Hyuuga looked angry, but the weapons mistress just looked confused.

Looking slightly embarrassed, the Hoshigakure nin scratched the back of his head and tried to change the subject. "Y'know, I never properly introduced myself. I'm—"

"We don't care." Neji said rudely, waving the man off, "Now what's this about Shiro not being a threat? Shiro is a dangerous criminal that we're tracking!" the Hyuuga sounded furious at the prospect that all their hard work had gone to waste.

Eager to calm him down, Tenten placed her hand gently on his shoulder, "Neji please…" she lowered her voice in hopes that the Hoshigakure nin wouldn't hear her, "He's just gone through something really traumatic…maybe he got his information mixed up."

Unfortunately, the man from Hoshi still heard her whispering. "I did not!" he said defensively, "I haven't got my information 'mixed up'! Shiro tried to take over the village more than a month ago, but he was wounded and left for dead by his men." Neji and Tenten now began to take notice of what the man was saying. "We actually took him in and healed him…he was probably killed in the raid yesterday though…"

Tenten retracted her hand from Neji's shoulder and let her mouth hang open. She turned to Neji and bit her lip, "I guess that **we** were the ones who got our information mixed up."

The white-eyed Hyuuga looked outraged, but tried, to no avail, to try and compose himself. "Are you saying…that we've been tracking a harmless and wounded man this whole time…?" he breathed out through gritted teeth.

Their Hoshigakure informant nodded his head timidly, "The real enemy is his son; Nagano Naoko."

Tenten reacted quickly to what the Hoshi nin said, "No he's not!" she half-shrieked, "Right?" she turned to Neji desperately.

"That's a lie." The Hyuuga prodigy said seriously, looking at the man with darkened eyes.

Staggering back a bit from Hyuuga Neji's penetrating gaze, the Hoshi nin stammered, "Th-that's no lie! R-right after his father and uncle betrayed the village and r-ran off with….with the important records, N-Naoko ran off too. He-he swore that he would bring the v-village to its knees," tears trembled in the man's fearful eyes, "a-and eliminate his w-weak relatives."

Tenten's mind raced as she tried to fit all the pieces of information in her mind together. How could she not have seen this coming? The fake genjutsu, the relation to Shiro; the proof that Naoko was not what he seemed was all there. Tenten was usually the one who figured out what was truly going on, but she had completely missed this one.

Neji looked sick. His already pale skin blanched and his stomach ached with anger about the betrayal. "Was it him who attacked the village?" He asked; his voice raspy.

The man shrugged a bit, but Tenten answered in his place. "Most likely."

"Where is he?" the Hyuuga growled, mostly to himself. All he wanted to do was find Naoko and rip that traitor to shreds.

"I think anyone who would have seen where he went is dead." Tenten said rationally in a quiet voice, "What we need to do is head back to Konoha as soon as possible—"

"No!!" Neji roared angrily."

"—and warn Tsunade-sama about this!!!" Tenten finished in a louder voice, ignoring Neij's protests. "And then we'll be able to start a new mission and look for Naoko. We can bring other Jounins for help—"

The white-eyed Hyuuga standing next to her erupted in uncharacteristic protests again, "I said NO Tenten!!" his voice tore through his teammate cruelly and the weapons mistress staggered back a bit at his intensity, "I don't NEED anyone to help me!!" he shouted fiercely.

"Neji, if Naoko can destroy a whole village, then imagine how quickly he could get rid of us!!" Tenten pleaded.

Scoffing, Neji turned away from her, his hair falling over half his face, "Speak for yourself. I could take that traitor all by myself." He turned and pinned the weapons mistress with an unreadable look.

Tenten looked at Neji with smoldering eyes. He hated being deceived, he hated traitors. There were so many trust issues in his past that had made their way to his present. That's why he hated Sasuke so much, that's why he was so angry now. The weapons mistress hated to see him so enraged. "Okay Neji." She said quietly, looking at the ground. "I think we should set up camp…it's getting kind of late." Tenten suggested meekly, looking up at her partner pleadingly.

"Whatever." The Hyuuga breezed past her to where their bags laid and began to unroll the sleeping bags. Then he sat down on his, whipped out a kunai, and started sharpening it furiously. Tenten sighed deeply and sent an apologetic look to the balding man and headed over to where Neji sat. When she sat down on the sleeping bag across from him, he ignored her and sent a frigid chill into the air surrounding them.

Sighing exasperatedly, Tenten looked up at her teammate, her best friend. He was much more childish than he would've liked to be known for. He threw tantrums more often than any toddler the weapons mistress had ever come in contact with, he pouted when he didn't get his way, and he got furious when things didn't turn out exactly the way he wanted them to. And not to mention that he thought he was better than everyone else, and walked around with a giant cloud of arrogance and pride surrounding him. There was no doubt in Tenten's mind that someone would have to be slightly insane and mentally impaired to ever fall in love with someone so self-centered and rude. And yet, she had.

Neji felt Tenten's gaze upon him, so he lifted his head slowly. Her beautiful chocolate-brown orbs looked at him curiously, so he gazed back at her.

Tenten smiled slightly when Neji looked back at her. His lavender eyes were softer now, kinder, and more personal. The weapons mistress knew that he only looked at her that way. That was something.

"You get first watch shift." She said with a crooked grin after a few minutes of silence. She slinked into her sleeping bag and curled up, ignoring the fact that her teammate's slight smile had turned back into a frown. "Good night Neji."

"Nice try." Neji ripped the warm covers off her and pointed to a nearby log, "_You_ get first shift." He leaned back onto his mat and ignored Tenten's curses as she shivered against the sudden cold. He smirked and closed his pearly eyes, "Good night Tenten."

* * *

Mind brimming with excitement, Temari raced back to the Sand Sibs' Konoha apartment. She rushed through the door and didn't even sit down before she viciously attacked Sasuke's letter. She was about to open up the folded piece of paper inside when Kankurou walked into the kitchen where she was standing and looked down at her curiously. Temari froze.

"You look guilty." He said, raising his eyebrows and looking down at the letter. Temari grinned sheepishly and hoped that her brother couldn't see Tenten's named on the front of the envelope. "Hey whose name is that on the front? Is that yours?" He cocked his head to the side and tried to read the name on the envelope, but Temari stepped backwards and hid the letter behind her back.

"It's mine." She said, almost too quickly.

She could tell that Kankurou didn't believe her. His eyes narrowed and his mouth split into a crooked grin. "If it's yours then you won't mind letting me take a little look at it."

Temari pouted sourly, "It's private."

Immediately, she knew that this was the wrong thing to say. "Oooooo, Temari's got a BOYFRIEND!!!" Kankurou yelled amusedly. "Who is it, whooooooo iiiiiiiiiiisssss iiiiiiiiiiiitttt??"

For a moment, Temari thought about just saying a random name, just to get him off her back, but she knew that that would only cause more trouble. "I said it's private you dipshit!!" she conspicuously shoved the letter in her back pocket, cursing Kankurou for interrupting her snooping. She turned on her heel huffily and started to march off to her room. Maybe then she could find some peace and quiet and privacy in this God-forsaken place and—

Abruptly, Temari's train of thought was cut off rudely by a large slap on her butt.

Slowly she turned, eyes narrowing and glaring at the perpetrator. To her mild surprise, it was Kankurou, who seemed very triumphant, that was standing behind her. Temari reached out and grabbed his collar, "What. Was. THAT?!" She screeched.

Kankurou's eyes widened in terror and he stuttered out an attempt at an apology, "I-I, it's not what y-you think it is!! I just wanted to get the l-letter!! S- see!!" The terrified Suna nin's hand shot in the air. In his shaking hand there was a distressed letter, crumpled and a bit torn at the edges from being handled so roughly. Temari reached out and snatched the letter away, still glaring at Kankurou.

The obvious tension in the air was interrupted when they heard a key turning and the door to the apartment opened. It was Gaara, who didn't look like he cared what was going on, but asked anyway, "What's going on?"

"KANKUROU GRABBED MY ASS!!!" Temari screeched.

"TEMARI OBVIOUSLY WANTS ME!" that was the only comeback that Kankurou could muster.

"_WHAT?! YOU FREAK!" _The blond sand nin lunged at her brother, trying to grab the letter and sneaking in a few punches as well.

Through all the yelling and attacking, Gaara had never flinched. He looked peculiarly at the letter and so he walked over to his bickering siblings and snatched it out of their hands calmly. He sighed deeply and shook his head at his brother and sister. "Again with the incest…" he said quietly, unfolding the letter slowly.

When they heard the sound of crinkling paper, Kankurou and Temari immediately stopped their fighting and turned their attention to the piece of paper that Gaara was opening.

"If you two will stop acting like children," the red head said calmly, "then you can read over my shoulder."

As soon as their brother said this, Temari and Kankurou scrambled to peek over Gaara's slim shoulders eagerly.

_I know that it's odd for me __to__ be sending you a letter instead of talking to you in person, _the letter began without an address, _but it's a bit hard with that Hyuuga always watching you like a hawk. I'm leaving on a long mission soon, so I probably won't be back when you and Hyuuga get back__. That's why __I'm having Lee give you this. _

_I know this is kind of silly, but there are still some thinks that I want to bring up. First of all, we've been spending a lot of time together.__ Well, more time than usual. An__d it's getting harder and harder for us to maintain a platonic friendship.__ You can't pretend that you are not beginning to feel the same.__ And it's rather __ludicrous__ to believe that__ we can keep up this charade and hide our past and our present from everyone. No one in going to continue believe that we just suddenly became more than __acquaintances_

_I want to think that we can stop hiding this—whatever 'this' is—but you and I both know that Hyuuga would skin me alive.__I know that you and __he__ are more than friends. __But so are we; don't deny it._

_It really comes down to you deciding; me, or the Hyuuga. I didn't want to have to make you 'choose', but frankly, I'm tired of this__ situation._

_Just remember that I can meet and exceed whatever feelings the Hyuuga claims to have for you. You know that I'm not the type of guy to do anything halfway._

_--Sasuke_

Gaara was the first one to finish reading the letter. Even though he hadn't really been interested in the contents at all when he first opened it, he found himself wondering who the intended reader was. He glanced over his shoulder at his sister, who had a concentrated look on her face and silently hoped that such a melodramatic letter wasn't for Temari.

When they finished reading the letter at almost the same exact time, Temari and Kankurou also had the same confused looks on their faces. Kankurou was the one to break the awkward silence that engulfed the siblings by exhaling heavily and shaking his head, "Temari," he said, a serious look on his face, "Please enlighten me. Since when have you, Sasuke, and a…_Hyuuga_ been _infatuated_?"

_He's rather protective for being younger than her,_ Gaara thought, although he had been thinking about asking his older sister the same question.

Temari didn't say a word, she didn't have to. She reached into her back pocket with an unreadable look on her face and pulled out the crumpled remains of the envelope that the letter had once been in. Her brothers immediately zeroed in on the name written neatly on the front.

_Tenten_

_

* * *

_

"Where are you going?"

A shadowy figure stopped dead in her tracks when she heard the small voice of a child. Tenten turned around to see Saori looking solemly up at her. She looked so small in the dark; her tanned skin looked pale like a ghost, haunting the weapons mistress. It almost made her want to turn back, but Tenten knew it was already too late. "I…I'll be back soon I promise."

Saori scrutinized Tenten's face carefully. The weapons mistress hadn't been expecting such an intense look from a six-year-old, so she quickly tried hardening her face and erasing all evident emotion. "You're lying," the Hoshi girl finally said.

Tenten sighed heavily and crouched down to Saori's height. "I _will_ come back." She said, "But right now…my partner is being an idiot and…well, we need help. And so I'm going to Konoha to get backup, and then I'll come back and we'll hunt down the people who destroyed your village." Tenten spared the baby voice when she talked to Saori; she knew that this girl was much older than her years; all young shinobi had to be, especially girls.

After a moment of silence Saori spoke in a small, clear voice, "Okay. And I won't tell your husband that you left."

The weapons mistress sighed exasperatedly and pinched the bridge of her nose between her index finger and her thumb. Hadn't she already told this kid that she and Neji weren't married? "We aren't—"she began, but brushed it off. She needed to get going _now_ before Neji woke up, "Thanks, whatever. Just, if he asks about me, tell him that I'm off for a walk or something okay?" Saori nodded furiously and Tenten sighed again, this time relieved that she could finally leave.

"Wait." Tenten heard saori's small voice calling out again just as she was about to leap off towards Konoha.

"What?" she called back rudely.

There was a pause before the small Hoshi girl answered, "…Can I have a hug?"

She was surprised and Tenten almost rolled her eyes as she turned around. But then she remembered that this day had probably been the most traumatic day in Saori's life, and her parents weren't here to give her a hug or a kiss and tell her everything was going to be okay. So Tenten nodded, kneeled down and scooped the small girl into her arms cradling her and feeling her small arms wrap around her neck. "Everything…is going to be fine." The weapons mistress whispered in the Hoshi girl's ear.

"Do you think my parents will come back soon?" Saori asked in a small voice.

Tenten smiled, "Yes I do." Then she set the girl down, said another goodbye, and slinked off into the night.

She lept from tree to tree, moving faster and faster with each bound. She tried to keep her breathing even so that she wouldn't get as tired as quickly. _In through the nose, out through the mouth._ Tenten focused on her breathing to pass the time. Traveling from Konoha to Hoshi had taken her and Neji two days moving at top speed. And here she was, thinking that she could make the trip in one night.

Tenten looked at her watch. It had been an hour since she had left Saori and, as she slowed for a minute to observe her surroundings, she realized she was about at the place where Neji had killed that Nagano subordinate. That meant she was moving twice as fast as she had been on that day. Well, that was good news. Maybe she couldn't make it back to Konoha in one night, but she sure could make it in one day. As she picked up speed again, Tenten smirked to herself.

* * *

"Ouch, ouch, _ouch."_ The weapons mistress made her way through the last bit of forest that separated her from Konoha. Oh how she regretted going so fast. She had made the trip in less than a day, arriving in Konoha in the mid afternoon and only taking about two hours to rest and watch the sun rise. And now she was feeling it. As Tenten rubbed her very sore quadriceps, she stumbled into a familiar training ground and caught sight of two familiar faces. Tenten yelled out for her friends, "Temari! Kankurou!!" she was surprised at how raspy her voice sounded.

The two training sand sibs turned towards her at the same time, with the same odd expression on their faces. Like they were worried to see her. "Tenten! Tenten, we've got something to tell you and it's—wait." Temari rushed towards her brunette friend, mouth running, but quickly stopped, "What are you doing here? And where's Neji?"

Tenten sighed, leaning against a nearby tree, "It's okay, just tell me what you wanted to say."

Crossing her arms across her chest, Temari shook her head, "You first."

The weapons mistress grumbled at the sand kunoichi, but obliged. "I ran away from Neji." She grumbled. When she saw Kankurou raise his eyebrows she rolled her eyes at him, "It's a long story. I'll elaborate later. Now you." She said to Temari. The sand kunoichi's urgent tone of voice earlier had her very curious.

Temari exhaled heavily, thinking how she could say what she knew Tenten needed to know in the least amount of words. Hesitantly, she pulled the crumpled letter out of her pocket, held it out to Tenten and finally spoke.

"Sasuke is in love with you."

* * *

**Wooo!!!!**

**Sasuke is uber OOC in this chapter, but I don't really mind, because Sasuke is one of those characters whose personality changes a lot.**

**IF YOU LOVE ME AND WANT ME TO UPDATE WITHOUT MAKING YOU WAIT SIX MONTHS AGAIN, YOU WILL REVIEW DAMMIT:)**

**Thanks for all the reviews that you all have given me so far and thanks for waiting so long. **

**Love, Mori**

**P.S. When I was spell checking this, Kankurou's name kept coming up and the suggestions were really odd. One was "Kinkajou." o.O**

**So now Kankurou is my little kinkajou. Whatever that is. xD**

**Oh yeah, and Tenten was very motherly in this chapter. :**


	11. Team Tenten

**Chapter Eleven: Team Tenten**

**Okay, so my laptop totally crashed and I lost EVERYTHING I had on it. EVERRRRYTHINNGG. That seems to happen to me a lot.**

**But it turned out to kind of be a good thing, because now I can post this chapter on the ONE YEAR ANNIVERSARY OF THS FIC'S BEGINNING!! -- throws confetti everywhere --**

**AREYOUEXCITEDAREYOUEXCITED ARE YOU EXCITED??**

* * *

Looking bad in front of her idol was something Tenten had never wanted to happen.

But Tenten realized, as she tried to avoid the piercing gaze of the fifth Hokage that she rarely got what she wanted.

"Frankly, I'm disappointed in both you and Neji." Tsunade said, resting her head on her hands.

Tenten looked at the floor, avoiding the gazes of Kankurou and Temari that were burning into the back of her head, "I'm sorry," she whispered, her voice almost inaudible.

The Hokage shook her head. "I can't believe that you would leave Neji alone in such an unstable situation. He is a fantastic jounin but…if the shinobi that destroyed Hoshigakure come back…" her eyes closed, "But then again, you two do need back up if you're ever going to bring Naoko down…" her voice suddenly became angry, "You did say that you believe it was he that destroyed Hoshi? And that Shiro was killed in the attack?"

"Yes." Tenten replied. She had told Tsunade everything, save the Sasuke talk between her and Neji, about their trip to Hoshi. "That's what the man we talked to said."

Tsunade's gaze was penetrating, "Did you ask any of the other survivors about the Naganos?"

Tenten stuttered, "N-no…"

"And did you even get the name of the man you were talking to?"

"No…"

Tsunade slammed her fist onto her desk, almost breaking the wood, "Then how do you know that he wasn't a spy placed there by Shiro?! How do you know this isn't a trap framing Naoko?!"

"Godaime-sama," Kankurou said, "Do you even know where Naoko is?" Tenten glanced back and smiled at him gratefully; that was exactly what she was thinking.

Tsunade knew that Naoko had not returned ever since she had sent him out to deliver a message to the hospital for her about a week ago, but she would not be proved wrong that easily. She hated being deceived even more that Neji, "Right now, both situations are options." She said decisively, "But either way, you're going to need to assemble a back up team." She turned around and waved them away, "You should leave within the hour. Good bye."

Tenten was a bit taken aback by Tsunade's sudden good bye, but she thanked the Hokage nevertheless and she, Temari, and Kankurou left the building. But right before they left, Tenten walked over to a chair by the Godaime's desk, pulled out a kunai and ripped a small piece of fabric off the cover.

"Thank you Tsunade-sama." She said again before leaving.

"So do you have a plan?" Temari asked when they were outside.

Tenten smirked. Being on a Jounin team with Shikamaru must have had some sort of effect on her, because the weapons mistress already had a plan and knew just who she wanted on her team to act it out. "Yes." She replied simply.

"And I'm assuming that we're coming?" Kankurou said; eager for some action. He hadn't been on a serious mission in a long time.

"Yes." Tenten didn't want to elaborate on what exactly that plan was just yet. She wanted to make sure she had all the right people, "Is Gaara in town?" she asked.

Temari shook her head, "No. He's back in Suna helping out the new Kage."

Scoffing, Kankurou rolled his eyes, "That guy's a fuckin' idiot." He growled, "Ever since he was chosen to be the new Kazekage he's been a wreck. He can't do anything by himself."

Tenten frowned, suddenly pensive, "Why did Gaara choose to step down as Kazekage? I thought he loved protecting the village. He was good at it too."

Temari shook her head, "Gaara really loves the village." She said, looking down, "Naruto taught him how to be loyal to Suna. But the council asked him to step down out of nowhere." Tenten's eyes widened as Temari continued, "And Gaara didn't protest. He said that if the council thought that he wasn't fit to be Kage then he wasn't. He wants the village to have the best leader it can."

"But instead the elders chose some asswipe." Kankurou spat, "I think his name is Akagawa Taro. He's always calling Gaara back to Suna to help him. And his wife Asuka isn't much better. She's so demanding." His nose crinkled.

"Tch, well that doesn't really help my plan. I need someone like Gaara who's powerful and has a high stamina." Tenten sighed, "Well let's see…who else will I need…?" she put her pointer finger on her chin contemplatively. "You two, obviously, Sakura, because we need a medic, Kiba and Akamaru…Ino and Shikamaru," Tenten said Ino and Shikamaru's names as softly as she could and tried not to notice when Temari winced. "And Naruto can take Gaara's place." She finished the list on a happier note.

But Kankurou shook his head, "He left yesterday on an escort mission with Sasuke." After he said this, Temari shot him an angry glare. "What?" he whined.

"Don't mention Sasuke…!" his older sister hissed through gritted teeth. The puppet master glanced at Tenten and, sure enough, her eyebrows had knitted together in a thoughtful countenance and her whole body seemed to slump just at the mention of the Uchiha prodigy.

Kankurou hissed back at Temari, "You're the one who had to tell her about that letter…! Anyone else could tell that it was obviously not the time to tell her that he pretty much is in love with her."

"Bu—haa, you, and…." Temari searched for the right words. "It was just so…unexpected!" she whispered, "I never would have expected someone like Sasuke to get attached to Tenten! I always thought he liked girls who were more like Sakura, or Ino."

Her brother shrugged, "I never expected it either." He realized too late that he and his sister had begun to talk in normal-volume voices, and that Tenten was glancing at them with an unreadable look in her eyes. "Oops…" he mumbled, looking down. Temari did the same.

Tenten winced, but other than that, kept her emotions inside. She supposed that it hurt a bit; two of her closest friends couldn't understand why a guy would have such strong feelings for her. But then again, she didn't understand how she and Sasuke had become so close either.

His letter had only confused her further. After Temari had delivered the letter and news of Sasuke's affections, Tenten had read the letter quickly, placed it in her kunai holster hastily and then walked off quickly to the Hokage's office, the two sand siblings following confusedly behind her. She didn't even want to think about Sasuke right now.

When Temari and Kankurou looked up, Tenten was back to her normal demeanor.

Then she grinned, "I know who can take Naruto's place."

When Temari realized who she was talking about, she groaned. This was not going to be pleasant.

* * *

Neji knew something was wrong the moment he woke up.

It should have been around four o'clock in the morning. It should have been misty and cold and Tenten's warm hands should have been shaking his shoulders, her high voice telling him to wake up, it's your turn to watch.

But instead it was bright, warm, sunny, and the pair of hands waking him up were cold and rough. "Oi," a deep voice said to him, "Are you dead? Shouldn't you be up? Where's that cute partner of yours?"

Neji opened his eyes to see a twenty-something Hoshi man looking down at him. He reached out and swatted the stranger's hands away and then looked around his and Tenten's camp a bit frantically. "Where's Tenten?" he growled at the man.

The Hoshi man shrugged his shoulders, "Don't ask me, I didn't even know her name until now."

Neji groaned in frustration. Taking the whole nights shift to let him sleep was exactly something Tenten would do; in fact she'd done it before. And while part of him was always a bit shocked and pleased at the show of affection, the other part of him always found it exceedingly annoying. He wasn't a child, and he could take care of himself. "Tenten!" he called out, waiting for her to walk up with a sheepish grin on her face. But she didn't. "Tenten?!" He called out louder, but his teammate never replied. "Excuse me," Neji said to the Hoshi man, and he stood up.

This time he called out another name, "Saori!" he walked around a bit and searched the small crowd of Hoshigakure villagers for a familiar six-year-old face.

"Yeees?" she appeared in front of him quickly.

He got straight to the point, "Where's Tenten?"

Saori gave him a strange look, "Who?"

Neji exhaled sharply, "I'm not in the mood for games right now Saori. Please tell me where Tenten is."

Much to Neji's chagrin, the small Hoshi girl replied with, "I really don't know who you're talking about."

Resisting the urge to reach out, grab the small girl by her collar and shake some sense into her, Neji sighed again, "Tenten." He said slowly, "Brown hair, two buns, brown eyes, white shirt, maroon pants. She usually has a giant scroll full of weapons on her back." The Hyuuga prodigy ran through the basic description of Tenten.

"Maroon pants, eh?" Saori said, snickering in her mind, "Are you sure they're not burgundy? I would call them burgundy."

"What are you talking about?!" Neji asked, enraged at the child's insubordination.

Saori shrugged, "I know you may feel strongly about the fact that you think they're maroon, but I think they're burgundy. Maybe even a dark red. But that would be pushing it would it?" she looked at the Hyuuga with mock seriousness.

Neji narrowed his eyes at the six year-old, "I have no reservations about hitting a child." He said, "Now tell me where Tenten is."

Saori chuckled, _I can't believe I was able to get him so riled up so quickly!_ She thought, rather impressed with herself. "You wouldn't really hit a little kid." She countered.

The Hyuuga prodigy sighed and closed his eyes for a second. She was right; Neji only fought when he in combat on a mission (or when he was especially pissed). But he was approaching the line of 'especially pissed' very quickly.

Just as he was about to respond with a threat, Saori said, "Okay, okay. Tenten said she was going on a walk to practice her…genjutsu." The Hoshi girl immediately regretted adding the last part when she saw the knowing smirk on Neji's face. She had thought that it made it sound more believable but…

"Nice try." Neji said with an amused tone of voice, "But you shouldn't have added the genjutsu part. Tenten hates genjutsus." He explained, "She hates fighting them, hates using them, and thinks they're a cheap tactic. She wouldn't be practicing one." He looked smug.

Saori sighed, "I should have known that you would know so much about her." She mumbled out of the side of her mouth.

Neji wiped the smug look off his face and went back into his serious mode, "So where is Tenten, really?" he asked again. _I don't like this,_ he thought, _what would Tenten have to hide? And where would she be that she wouldn't want me to follow? Unless…._ The only explanation the Hyuuga could think of was that Sasuke had shown up and that Tenten had gone off to meet him. His eyes narrowed.

The young girl was taken aback by Neji's sudden anger, "Alright, alright." Saori said quickly, "She's gone."

Almost growling, Neji responded, "Gone where?"

Saori flinched in anticipation of Neji's further anger, "Back to Konoha to get help." She said quietly.

Outer Neji received and took in this information with his usual calmness, but Inner Neji was raging. The first emotion that came to his mind was not anger, but that goddamned jealousy again. He could just imagine Tenten racing back to Hoshigakure with Uchiha Sasuke trailing behind her. But he shook his head and discarded that thought; now was not the time to be thinking about Tenten with Sasuke.

And even though his first instinct was to chase after Tenten, Neji knew that that was impossible. Leaving the remainder of the village utterly unprotected would be irresponsible—almost as irresponsible as leaving for backup in the middle of mission, Neji thought.

He looked back at Saori's apprehensive face and exhaled deeply, "Saori, I need you to keep a lookout all day around the surrounding woods for Tenten." He said, "She can be fast when she needs to be, so I'm thinking that she'll be returning soon."

"Hai." The young girl nodded and jogged off the the other end of their encampment.

Several Hoshigakure citizens were calling for his help, and Neji walked towards them dutifully. As he walked he looked up at the sun that was dimming by the hour. He judged that it was almost fifteen hundred hours. His pale eyes narrowed under the glare of the star and he spoke to his partner in his head. For the first time in his life, Tenten had disobeyed him. She used to be so willing to please, so much so that it almost became annoying to Neji. But she seemed to have no problem breaking his rules now. He liked that, and he liked that she was gaining independence, but he wasn't really sure if that was a good thing for him.

_I'm not thinking that you're coming back, Tenten,_ Neji thought, _I'm hoping._

* * *

Lee always answered the door with a smile on his face and a cheerful attitude. He was well known in the door-to-door salesman business for being the only potential customer that was willing to sit and listen to a bunch of made-up facts about why he _absolutely needed_ a Kunai Kitchen Knife ("Strong enough to chop of limbs, but gentle enough to slice a tomato!").

But when there was a loud knock and Lee answered the door to see Tenten, she was greeted with shocked silence.

"L-Lee?" Tenten asked, waving her hand in front of his face, "Are…are you okay?"

"I'm sorry Tenten-chan!" Lee said suddenly, "I just was surprised to see you back so soon! I'm assuming that the mission went spectacular!" he grinned and gave her thumbs up, "Where is Neji?" he looked around behind where Tenten was standing. The only people he saw were Kankurou and a very guilty-looking Temari. And when Tenten didn't answer right away, he assumed the worst. "Oh no!" he wailed, tears welling up in his eyes, "Don't tell me…that Neji is…" he cut himself off and let out a loud sob, grabbing Tenten and pulling her into a painfully tight hug, "Don't worry T-Tenten! We'll get through this together."

"Ehhh…?" Tenten was throuroughly confused by Lee's crying until she glanced at Temari, who gave her a look. Realizing what Lee thought, Tenten let out an "awww". She never imagined that Lee would be so broken up at the prospect of Neji's death. In her mind, "eternal rivals" didn't really translate to "close friends." And yet, they were.

"L-Lee?" Tenten choked out, trying to peel the jumpsuit-clad ninja off of her, to no avail, "Lee, Neji isn't dead…!"

"Oh." Lee let his former teammate go instantly, and then grinned, "Well, I am very pleased to hear that! But then where is he??"

"It's actually kind of a long story…" Tenten looked down at her feet, not wanting to relive that day again.

Lee was as patient as ever, "Well I'm not going anywhere."

Sighing deeply, Tenten began. "Well when we got to Hoshigakure, it was completely destroyed…" she ran through the cycle of what had happened on her and Neji's mission. Lee listened attentively, as everyone expected he would, gasping in all the right placed, asking the right questions, and when Tenten finished, he looked at her seriously. "Well, we better go around and assemble the rest of your team." He said, nodding sagely.

Temari, who had never seen Lee act so professional, was a bit taken aback. Tenten smiled at her and offered an explanaition, "Lee doesn't mess around when it comes to helping out Neji and me."

Lee gave his former teammate another serious look, "You mean 'Neji and _I._'"

"Lee also doesn't mess around when it comes to grammer." She deadpanned.

Temari gave Lee a look that was something between disgruntled admiration and amusement. He truly was a rara avis, and, in the back of her mind, the Suna kunoichi regretted not seeing past his garrulous nature and exaggerated appearance before.

Kankurou wasn't fazed by Lee's sudden change in demeanor; the puppet master often did this himself, switching between a playful attitude to a no-nonsense state of mind. "Well let's get going then." He said, suddenly impatient.

"Yosh!" Lee said with a grin and a determined look, "Let us form Team Tenten!"

Tenten blanched.

* * *

Monogamy.

Who had invented such an idiotic term?

Asuka mused on this as she crawled out of her latest paramour's bed.

Being the Kazekage's wife was hard, but someone had to do it. And Asuka had made sure that she was the one.

Sure, hypnotizing the village council with her long-dead father's forbidden jutsu was challenging, but that's just what she liked. She had manipulated them into asking Gaara to step down as Kazekage. But Asuka knew that if they chose her to be the new kage, it would be too obvious. So she charmed and married the most mediocre, middle-class Suna shinobi she could find and "convinced" the council to choose him to succeed Gaara.

Akagawa Taro was a respectable and responsible jounin who was just entering his thirties. He always completed his missions. Never with any flair or finess, but always in a timely and neat manner. His fault was that he was an insufferable worry wart who couldn't let even the smallest detail go past him without scrupulous inspection.

But Asuka knew how to maneuver around that. She did all her plotting in bed, whispering her plans and ambitions in his ear. And he ate them up like she knew he would. Like he ate up and believed all her fake smiles and her falsely sweet countenance. Taro formed alliances for her, always under the watchful eye of the public of course as not to raise suspicion, and did whatever he was told. He was merely the respectable figurehead, while Asuka pulled the strings of his puppet. It also didn't hurt that using the hypnosis jutsu on him was so easy.

"Asuka." A low voice drew the Suna kunoichi from her daydreaming.

"Yes Naoko…?" she replied in a sultry voice much different from the sickly sweet one she used around her husband.

The man sitting on the bed with her layed back again, putting his arms behind his head and looking at her with his dull, gray eyes, "So how is our alliance with Sunagakure going?"

_He's all business…_ Nagano Naoko wasn't much of a looker, but he was young, and that's what she needed. "Well Naoko," she said, "if last night is anything to go by the alliance is going _veeerrry _well." She purred, shifting towards him.

Naoko didn't even look towards his lover. His expression was clipped and his lips were pursed.

_God I hate men like this,_ Asuka thought sourly, _Exciting in bed, but dull as doornails otherwise. _The Suna woman sighed, "It's moving along very smoothly." She said icily, brushing off his snubbing. She stood up and started to pull her clothes on, "What are your plans for taking over Hoshigakure?" Asuka said, looking at Naoko over her shoulder and adopting his business-like demeanor.

Mimicking her, Naoko also began to put his clothes on, "My subordinates sent word that the destruction of the village went as planned. They made sure to leave a few people alive but with severe wounds."

Asuka filled in the blanks, "That way you can go back and save them and they'll make you Hoshikage."

_How cliché,_ she thought. Naoko nodded. He knew that it wasn't the most original plan, but it seemed logical to him.

"Aren't you a little bit late though?" she asked coyly, "For your heroic entrance? Eh, Nagano-kuuun?" one of her slender dark red eyebrows rose as she mocked him.

Naoko scowled at her, "Well I ran into a few distractions. Mainly, you." This put a wicked smile on the red-head kunoichi's face.

"Ah, well," she said with convincing false sincerity, "I'm sure your plan will still work. And then when you become Hoshikage, Hoshigakure's alliance with Suna can become official." She finished putting her clothes on and went to exit her tent, "And then we can go ahead with the plan for the final destruction of Konohagakure." Asuka grinned and lifted the flap of the tent to see two shinobi standing guard on outside of it. Their backs were to her, but she could tell right away which village they were from. Stiffling an angry gasp, she closed the flap and turned to Naoko. "There are two Konoha shinobi outside…!" she said in an urgent whisper, cursing her naturally loud voice, "What are we going to do?"

Scowling again, Naoko resisted the urge to roll his eyes at Asuka. The Hoshi nin knew that, while he was not that creative, he was good at keeping a clear head and thinking under pressure, such as having the enemy standing right outside your door. Asuka, however, was rash, bold, and had a bark much worse than her actual bite; she could only come up solutions and strategies in a calm, risk-free environment. The two completed each other perfectly. Unfortunately, they could hardly stand each other out of bed.

"Go out there." Naoko replied with a hushed whisper, "They were obviously sent here to protect you because you're the Kazekage's wife. They obviously still think that Suna is allied with Konoha. So just keep the charade up for now. I'll exit from the back."

Asuka nodded with a sour look on her face. She lifted up the tent flap again and tapped one of the Konoha nins on the shoulder, greeting him with a sickly sweet smile when he turned around.

Sasuke turned around slowly and resisted the urge to kill the two-faced woman on the spot. He had heard every word she and Naoko had exchanged since he and Naruto arrived an hour ago. But he was almost positive that his blond best friend had heard nothing. Despite all the strength and skill he had acquired, Naruto still had the observation skills of a seven year old academy student.

"Oohh, Asuka-san!" Naruto said, turning around much later than Sasuke, "Your husband asked Tsunade-baa-chan to send us to you and escort you back to the hidden Sand village because we know our way around here pretty well." He grinned, but it didn't quite meet his eyes. Sasuke knew that Naruto was still a bit upset at the Suna elder council for asking Gaara to step down as Kazekage. Many shinobi from Konoha, Tsunade included, had opposed the decision, but Naruto's voice had definitely the loudest.

"Aw, that's so sweet of them!" Asuka said, eyes lighting up convincingly.

_She's a pretty good actress…_ Sasuke thought with a smirk.

"If you would just give me a few minutes to gather all my things that are still in the tent." Asuka continued cheerfully, "And after my men pack up the tent we can set off." She smiled brightly.

Naruto ate up Asuka's false kindess like candy, "Sure thing Asuka-san." He grinned. Sasuke knew that he always liked to see the best in people.

But as soon as Asuka had re-entered the tent, Sasuke grabbed Naruto by the shoulders and dragged the the blond boy behind a nearby tree.

"Whaa--?!" Naruto looked stunned to say the least. "Sasuke I definitely don't swing that way!" he yelled, noting their closeness.

"Tch," Sasuke scoffed at Naruto's comment, "Just listen to me."

Naruto, who was expecting a dramatic confession of love, was quite taken aback when Sasuke began talking about Asuka, "Naruto, don't believe a word that Asuka says. You didn't hear…but she was talking to a man named Nagano Naoko about the destruction of Konoha."

The blond jinchuuriki clench his fists and his teeth. Sasuke could tell that Naruro wanted to barge right into her tent and confront her, but he couldn't let that happen.

"Stay calm Naruto." He said in an urgent, hushed voice, "The Naoko man…wait…" Sasuke looked like he had just realized something, "His surname was Nagano…that's the name of the man that Tenten and Hyuuga were going after…!" he hissed.

"So the man Tenten and Neji are after is here, with Asuka?" Naruto asked, lowering his voice to the softest volume he could, which was still louder that Sasuke preferred.

Sasuke shook his head, "No…the man they were after was Nagano Shiro…this is a different man, but definitely related." He lowered his voice even more, "Listen, we're going to lead Asuka to where Tenten and Hyuuga are."

Naruto pouted, "Why don't we just confront her now?" he whispered, "I'm sure we can get a confession out of her."

Sasuke scowled, "That would leave too many options open for her." He growled, trying to keep his voice down, "She's the Kazekage's wife, and she's managed to keep her plan a secret until now, so it's not likely that she'll be naïve when it comes to shinobi and interrogation tactics, and not to mention the servants she has." He glaced over to where Asuka's four servants were packing up her belongings and the tent, "They don't look like pushovers, and I'd rather not deal with them. Also, it's likely that Tenten and Hyuuga will realize part of what's going on and capture Naoko. Then if we have both of 

them, it will make it easier to get information out of them and make them betray each other."

"So logical…" Naruto said under his breath., "That guy's name sounds really familiar…" he continued, putting his pointer finger to his chin, and then gasped loudly when he realized where he had heard Naoko's name before, "I remember hearing Tsunade-baa-chan talking about a guy named Nagano Naoko with Shizune!" he whispered in an urgent voice, "She said that he was teaching a genjutsu technique to Neji and Tenten!"

"Helloooo…?" Asuka's perfectly practiced innocent voice rang out and Sasuke inhaled sharply.

He turned to Naruto, "Is that true?" he asked urgently. Naruto nodded vehemently, and Sasuke gritted his teeth, "Then we definitely need to lead Asuka to Tenten. That's our plan, got it?"

Naruto nodded again, "Yosh. We're over hear Asuka-san!!" he went quickly from a business-like demeanor to a falsle friendly one. Sasuke only hoped that the boisterous blond could keep it up.

"Oh there you are!" Asuka said, and for a second Sasuke saw true suspicion flashing in her eyes, but it was covered up quickly. "Well, my men are all ready," she nodded to where her four men were holding up the cart they would be carrying her in, "so let's get going!"

Sasuke nodded, but then he bit his left thumb and made a few familiar hand signs and then pressed his thumb to the ground, "Kuchiyose no jutsu." He said quietly. There was a puff of white smoke and when it cleared, there was an all-too familiar dog sitting in its place.

Asuka's fascmille fell for just a second, "Why did you summon a _dog_?" she half-shrieked incredulously.

"Pakkun!" Naruto said, clearly surprised. He turned to Sasuke, "Since when can you summon Pakkun Sasuke-teme?!" he looked slightly jealous.

Sasuke held out his hand for Pakkun to smell before replying calmly, "Kakashi taught me how to summon him in case I ever got into a troublesome situation where I don't know where I am." He said, "But he's also very handy for navigating through areas like this." He added quickly, looking at a skeptical Asuka.

Her act was back on, "Oh well, that's just fine with me!" she chirped, before walking to her cart.

Naruto was pouting. _Why doesn't Kakashi-sensei ever teach me cool summons like that…?!_ He thought. "So are you gonna have Pakkun follow Tenten or Neji's scent?" he asked.

"Tenten's." Sasuke replied simply. He saw both Naruto and Pakkun raise an eyebrow.

"All right then…" Naruto walked off wondering how Sasuke had Tenten's scent.

When he judged that Asuka wasn't listening, Sasuke held his hand out to Pakkun again, "Follow the female scent." He said.

"Got it." Pakkun replied.

As he walked over to where Naruto and Asuka and her men were waiting with Pakkun trotting beside him, Sasuke smiled. Maybe he was a bit _too_ happy that this meant he would get to see Tenten again so soon.

* * *

Why was she doing this?

Why was she doing this _now_?

Tenten hesitated before picking up the thin package that was sitting on her dresser and had been sitting there for quite some time now hesitantly.

The weapons mistress had entrusted Lee, Temari, and Kankurou to pick up Sakura and Kiba and Akamaru while Tenten went back to her apartment and cleaned up and replenished her supplies. Then (this was the part that Temari emphasized) they would _all_ go to pick up Shikamaru and Ino.

Well she had cleaned up. And she had repacked all her supplies. So why didn't she just leave already? For some reason Tenten had suddenly been compelled to open the late birthday present that Neji had given to her on the night that he kissed her.

The package was long and thin and Tenten's fingers moved slowly as she unwrapped the plain paper. She pulled the short out ceremoniously and gasped at it. She could tell that it was made from the finest steel and iron. She poked her thumb to the tip of it softly and was astonished at how sharp it was; she had barely pressed, but her thumb started bleeding profusely.

"This is…amazing…" Tenten said, smirking as she buckled it onto the side of her kunai holster.

She thought that was all there was to the present (after all, it seemd like enough to her) but that was when she noticed the small black box that was still in the packaging.

"Hmmm…" she hummed absentmindedly as she opened the small box, and stifled a giggle. The earrings were beautiful, of course, and Tenten would have worn them—if her ears were still pierced. Nevertheless, she pocketed the box.

Maybe Neji didn't know her as well as he thought he did.

* * *

"Sh-Shikamaru?" Tenten was currently stuttering and pushing her index fingers together in a very Hinata-like move.

To say Shikamaru looked surprised was an understatement, "What's up Tenten?"

After running around Konoha to gather all the members she would need for her team, Tenten and company had gathered at a training ground near where they would be leaving from to count their supplies and prepare. Tenten had pulled Shikamaru aside looking very nervous.

Ever since Lee had mentioned "Team Tenten", the weapons mistress had been having second thoughts about her ability of a leader. In a word, she was worried. Worried that she wouldn't be good enough, that Neji would be in trouble because she left him there and that she wouldn't be able to save him. It scared her; responsibility like that. She didn't know how Shikamaru could stand it on a regular basis.

"Did you tell everyone the situation and the plan?" she asked first.

Shikamaru nodded. Right after her ever-growing group arrived at the Nara household to pick the lazy genius up Tenten had pulled him aside for the first time, told him what had happened and her plan, and then asked him to tell the rest of the group for her. "Why did you want me to tell them?" he asked.

Tenten looked at the ground before answering, "Well…I guess I'm just kind of nervous about the whole mission. I just thought that maybe everyone would feel better if they thought the plan came from you."

For a moment Shikamaru opened his mouth and it looked like the lazy genius was going to say something to contradict her and put her mind at ease, but he just exhaled and closed his mouth again, "I guess." He said after a short pause.

Because Tenten knew it was true, at least on some level, his agreement didn't hurt her. Instead she took advantage of his reply, "Good. So you also agree that you should be the leader of this mission."

The shadow user's reply came much swifter this time, "No." he said, "I can tell that you're nervous, but you are the only one who has seen the real state of Hoshigakure." He saw the despairing look on his teammate's face, "I'm sorry Tenten."

The weapons mistress just nodded and steeled her face. _I guess this is something I just have to do_. She thought.

"All right everyone, we're leaving soon, so assemble!" Tenten's voice sounded anything but nervous as she called her team to attention.

She looked down the line at Team Tenten. To the far left were Shikamaru and Ino. Though their faces were completely serious, they were holding each other's hands loosely. For a second after she noticed that, Tenten missed Neji unbearably, but it passed.

Next to Ino were Akamaru and Kiba. Never one to try and hid his emotions, the dog boy kept throwing glaces at the couple next to him and looked very sullen and jealous while doing so. Tenten wasn't surprised; Hinata had once told her and Ino that his dog-like tendencies caused him to become very quickly and overly attached to any girl he really liked.

Lee was standing next to Kiba with a supportive look on his face, as usual. Sakura was next to him. The medic nin looked a bit out of place, but Tenten wasn't surprised. She wondered if the rosette kunoichi had ever really been on a mission without Naruto.

Finally, there there was Kankurou and Temari. The Suna kunoichi was smart to place herself far away from where Shikamaru and Ino were standing, because she could feel a small bit of jealousy bubbling up inside her. Tenten gave her a thankful smile.

"Alright." The weapons mistress said, "Shikamaru has told you all about the plan, so this is how we're going to head out: Kiba, you and Akamaru will be in front." She reached into her kunai holster and pulled out a piece of thick fabric and threw it to the dog boy, "Follow this scent."

"Is that what you ripped off that chair?" Temari asked.

Tenten nodded, "I remembered that Naoko was sitting on that chair when I first met him.

Kiba sniffed it hesitantly, "Yeah," he said, "It's got some guys scent all over it."

"Good." Tenten said before turning to Shikamaru, "I want you and Ino to follow right behind Kiba." The couple nodded. "All right," Tenten finished, "And I want the rest of you to follow at a distance with me." The rest of her team nodded assuredly, but Tenten still felt a nervous churning in her stomach.

"A-alright." She tried not to stutter, but it was hard, "Let's go."

* * *

Her team was quick to say the least. They hadn't been moving for long, but Tenten knew that they had travled a substantial length.

That's why she wasn't very surprised when Kiba stopped. The rest of the team followed suit and Tenten walked up to the Inuzuka, "What is it?" she asked, whispering, "Is Naoko near?"

Kiba nodded, "He's close. Just on the other side of this clearing and about a half mile south."

"Clearing?" Tenten asked.

"Yeah," Kiba said jerking his thumb over his shoulder, "There's a pretty big clearing right over there. There's a lot of debris, and I think I actually saw some people, so we should be cautious."

_People…?!_ Tenten thought. She looked around and took in her surroundings. They had been moving so quickly that she hadn't noticed how familiar everything seemed. The weapons mistress gasped and charged forward towards where the ample light of the clearing was pouring in through the leaves.

"Tenten…!" Shikamaru yelled, running after her, "You don't know who's out there!"

The weapons mistress looked over her shoulder at Shikamaru, "Yes I do." She said simply. When she entered the clearing, her hunch was confirmed; it was the remains of Hoshigakure. "Oh _no_!" she wailed.

"What's wrong—oh…" Sakura appeared at Tenten's side quickly, and the rest of her team followed suit quickly.

"Kiba!" Tenten turned to the Inuzuka with a trace of panic in her voice, "You said you saw people right? Please tell me that you saw someone!" The weapons mistress was worried that Naoko had returned to finish off the rest of the villagers.

Right when Kiba was about to answer affirmatively, he was interrupted by another loud male voice, "Hey, it's Buns! Or…Te…Tenten, yeah!"

Tenten was surprised to see a Hoshi nin in his twenties rushing towards her. "How…how do you know my name?" she asked.

"Oh," the man stopped when he had reached her, "Your partner told me. He wanted to know where you were."

The weapons mistress looked around frantically, "Do you know where Neji is?"

The man scratched his head, "Your partner?" he asked.

Tenten was frantic at this point, "Yes, my partner! Tall, long dark brown hair, white eyes, white robe!! Where is he?!"

"Tenten…" the weapons mistress felt a hand on her shoulder and turned to see that it was Lee. He wore the same worried expression on his face that she had on hers.

"Neji-san told us to lay _low_ you idiot!" a small put powerful female voice joined the group. Tenten turned her head to see a six or seven year old girl kicking the twenty-something man in the shin repeatedly while hissing curses at him.

"Oi, oi! Okay…!" the Hoshi man put his hand out in front of his chest and walked backwards, "I'll go back…jeez." He began to walk away towards the only building in Hoshigakure that was still standing; a medium-sized meeting hall.

Sakura tried to stop the man, but Tenten put her hand on the medic nin's shoulder, "It's alright." The weapons mistress said, "Saori?" she asked the small girl in front of them hopefully.

The girl looked up and gave Tenten a cat-like grin, "You're just in time." Saori said.

Tenten looked relieved to see that Saori was okay, but also a little confused. "In time for what?" she asked.

Saori started walking across the clearing and beckoned for the group to follow. The weapons mistress did immediately, but the rest of Team Tenten looked a little hesitant about following a six year old girl. Saori seemed to sense this and looked back, "I may be young, but I'm not an idiot." She said sharply.

"Yes ma'am." Kankurou mumbled as he and the rest of the team followed after Tenten and Saori.

"Naoko is here." Saori said seriously as they walked, and both Kiba and Tenten gritted their teeth.

Akamaru gave out a small bark and Kiba nodded, "I can smell him," he said urgently, "He's right in front of us, about a half mile away. I can smell someone else there too…" he added.

Saori looked back at him, "That's probably Neji. Right after Naoko entered the village he was met with resistance, so he fled. Neji chased after him. It's been about a half hour."

Tenten's eyes widened and she dug her fingernails into her palms. Neji was out there fighting right now. Alone. The guilt of leaving him alone stabbed into her like a kunai. "We need to go help him!" she said loudly, "We need to hurry!" she looked around at the serious faces surrounding her before sprinting off to where both Kiba and Saori said Neji was.

"T-Tenten!!" Temari and Shikamaru yelled out after their friend at the same time. They turned to each other and their eyes met for a second before Temari cursed and ran off after Tenten.

As she sprinted through the forest and lept from tree to tree, Tenten dully noticed that she could hear the rest of her team and Saori following her. It was priceless to know that she had such good friends to back her up but…

She stumbled into a clearing where someone was lying on the ground in a small pool of blood. They were wearing a stark white robe that contrasted sickeningly with the dark red gore and had dark hair that was stuck in clumps because of the sticky red substance.

_Neji…!_

But if she could do it over, she realized as she rushed to his side, she never would have left him.

Tenten didn't care if it had been the right decision, or the logical decision, or the decision that would finish the mission quickly. The weapons mistress lifted Neji's heavy head off the forest floor and checked his pulse, and all she cared about was him.

Neji's pulse was faint and fading with every minute. "Neji!! Wake up Neji!!" she cried at him unconscious body, "S-Sakura can heal you…SAKURA!!" the weapons mistress yelled out for her teammates, who entered the clearing not too long after her desperate call. Almost all of them stood paralyzed when they saw Neji's near-lifeless body lying in Tenten's arms. Sakura was the only one to rush to Neji's side and immediately start her medical jutsu.

Then Kiba cursed and gritted his teeth, looking around at the surrounding trees, "He still here…!" he growled, getting into a fighting stance.

A cold and chilling but familiar voice spoke, "Very good." There was a rustling of bushes and, sure enough, Nagano Naoko had entered the clearing with blood stained hands and a sick grin on his face.

"I-I can't find a pulse!" Sakura wailed suddenly, "My medical chakra isn't having any effect on him…!!" she looked up at the long-haired Hoshi nin, "Naoko how could you?!" she roared feircly.

"Hmm…" Naoko said thoughtfully, "I expected a reaction like that from Tenten…" he looked at the weapons mistress.

Tenten did have the wherewithal to be angry or to yell fierce words at the enemy. Neji's broken-down image flodded her brain, widened her eyes, and rendered her physically useless. She had failed him, that's all she could think of.

Tilting his head to the side, Naoko made another comment in the weapons mistress' direction, "Tsk, tsk…if only he had had a partner with him…I mean, then he could have repelled my genjutsu.

This time, Tenten gasped. She didn't even think about _that_! And it only made the guilty pain in her worsen. _If I had been there…if I had been there…_

The brunette kunoichi grabbed Neji's collar and shook him back and forth forcefully, ignoring Ino's comforting prescense running to her side and pleading for her to stop. "NEJI!!"' Tenten cried desperately, "Please get up!! I know you can!!"

When Neji didn't respond or even move, Naoko laughed. "He won't be getting up."

Tenten buried her face in Neji's chest and cried.

* * *

**CURSE YOU RECENT MANGA CHAPTERS FOR BEING ANTI-CLIMACTIC, MAKING MY FIC SEEM REALLY AU AND MAKING MY SASUKE SEEM ULTRA OOC!! --shakes fist at the sky—**

**Ahem, sorry about the ending. ToT**

**I originally wanted this chapter to be really long, but…I'm basically pulling this plot out of thin air nowadays. D:**

**OH and I started watching Bleach. It's realllly addicting. **

**Soooo, as an "I'm sorry for this not-so-good chapter" present, I posted some NejiTen drabbles as a oneshot, so go check it out if you wanna. :3**

**Oh, and review pleeeease because you know you wanna know what happens to Neji! :0**

**--Mori :D**


End file.
